CSA42 Oro Grande 

The community of Oro Grande is situated mostly in a part of an unincorporated area five miles northwest of the City of Victorville. It is within the boundaries of County Service Area 42 (CSA 42), a dependent special district governed by the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors which provides water, sewer, park, and street lighting services to approximately 422 customers. The service area is mostly within a part of an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County outside of the Sphere of influence of the City of Victorville and encompasses approximately 493 acres. The district was formed in 1965 when the Riverside Cement Company who had maintained the community of Oro Grande as a `Company Town’, sold the lands, parcels and homes to its workers. The municipal type services were transferred to the county service area. Presently the District provides sewer services to 235 EDU’s in the community of Oro Grande.

Before the manufacture of cement at Oro Grande, this location was involved with the manufacture of lime. The lime industry in Oro Grande was established soon after the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad between Los Angeles and Needles, about 1884. The existing kilns in the area were probably operated by the Union Lime Company until the early 1900’s. The Golden State Portland Cement Company purchased the holdings of the lime company and began building the existing cement plant, as we know it today, from 1907 to 1910. 

On June 1, 1923 the Riverside Cement Company purchased the Golden State Portland Cement Co., and the community of Oro Grande was established to house their workers and families. The company maintained a `company town’ which provided water, sewer, street lighting and garbage removal services. 

The water supply for the community of Oro Grande is obtained from a system of four wells lying along the Mojave River, from which water is pumped through transmission pipelines into the distribution system, with storage being supplied by one 246,000 gallon tank. 
The Special Districts Departments goal “to provide a safe and dependable supply of drinking water” was expanded in 2000 to include “in an efficient and economical manner.” Subsequent to the completion and release of the Optimization Study in 1999, the Special Districts Department began the study’s implementation. As recommended in the study, office and field staff are being increased to improve the efficiency of the field operations and office administration.

The major portion of the sewer system serving the community was constructed in about 1924, in accordance with a plan set forth in a 1924 report by J.B. Lippincott of Los Angeles, California, entitled `Report on Sewerage Collection and Disposal Plant for Oro Grande, California.’ Some additions and alterations to the original plan were made in later years.

When the lands, parcels and homes were sold to the workers in 1965, the municipal type services were transferred to the county service area, but the cement company stayed within the boundaries to help continue the financing of services through its taxes. 

The facilities listed below are recorded in an inventory and appraisal of the sewage system done when the Cement Company transferred the system over to the District. At that time, the domestic sewage collection and disposal system serving the residential community consisted of 5,468 feet of 6-inch collection mains, with 1,376 feet of 8-inch outfall line to a reinforced concrete underground septic tank and 750 feet of 8-inch outfall line to a system of sewage lagoons situated easterly of the active channel of the Mojave River. The sewage lagoons were also used for the disposal of industrial waste from the Cement Company and were therefore not included in the appraisal. There were 29 manholes in the collection and outfall system, being installed generally not greater than 350 feet apart and at changes in grade.
The inventory of the sewage collection and disposal system was made by field inspection and reference to the above mentioned Lippincott Report and Riverside Cement Company Map No. RD-SBo-E1.

In March of 1981 The California Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Region informed CSA 42 that they could no longer treat their sewage by primary treatment. CSA 42 entered into a service agreement with the Victor Valley Regional Wastewater Authority.

In January 1984, The Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility went into operation. The facility was constructed with funds derived from Federal and State clean water grants and local share taxes. This facility provides interceptor capacity and wastewater treatment and disposal for the City of Adelanto, Apple Valley County Water District, Hesperia County Water District, CSA 42, CSA 64 and the City of Victorville.

The cost of operating and maintaining the treatment plant is paid for through the use of user charges which are levied throughout each of the communities on an equitable basis. The local share of capital costs was paid for through a General Obligation Bond issue which has been sold in a Mojave Water Agency Improvement District which overlaps each of the communities which are participating. One and one-third percent of the fixed costs were born by CSA 42.