12,000 New Homes In Folsom Ranch Project Raise Water Supply Worries

FOLSOM (CBS13) — Homes in the Folsom Ranch development south of Highway 50 are finally ready to go up starting with model homes next week.

Roughly 12,000 new homes will be built in the next several years. But residents say they're worried it'll put a strain on the local water supply.

"I think it's unrealistic to think that Folsom Lake can keep supplying the same amount of water and just keep increasing homes," said Beth Kelly, the president of the Heritage Preservation League.

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With thousands of homes in the works, the city estimates a population increase of roughly 28,000 people. It's a population increase of 36 percent. But people like Kelly isn't so sure there will be enough water for all of the new residents.

"I could remember going out to Folsom Lake and seeing it go really, really low," she said. "So low that, I think it was this last drought, the water was almost below the pipe."

But a city spokesperson told CBS13, "The city of Folsom has enough water supplies to serve all current and future water customers, including the Folsom Plan Area south of Highway 50. The water supplies for the development south of 50 will not impact the water supplies for customers north of Highway 50."

The latter part was a condition of Measure W, passed in 2004.

A Taylor Morrison spokesperson said the developers of Folsom Ranch plan to put in a separate water system that won't pull water from other areas in Folsom. Vice Mayor Ernie Sheldon told CBS13 the city has contracts with other water agencies to provide additional water, in case of another drought.

But even with plans in place, Kelly is worried that more homes mean more water concerns for everyone over time.

"What's going to happen is that everybody's going to have to do more and more stricter water conservation!" she said.

Model homes for Taylor Morrison will be finished by August, with additional homes ready by the end of the year. Altogether, the company has 200 homes planned for the next three years.

And they'll start selling during the first week of June.