Water engineers are working on deadline for a plan to meet chloride-compliance standards, a Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District engineer said Monday.

The district released a statement  Monday on the status of its efforts.

“The SCV Sanitation District is dedicated to finding the most cost-effective and environmentally sound solution to meet the state-mandated chloride (salt) limit and to avoid additional fines from the state,” according to a letter from Basil Hewitt, senior engineer for the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District.

“In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the SCV Sanitation District is reviewing all comments submitted during the public comment period and will produce and release a final facilities plan and EIR that will include written responses to all of these comments.

There are essentially four options for ratepayers in the Santa Clarita Valley’s watershed: Residents can do nothing, which likely will result in additional fines; residents can seek administrative relief, which officials have said is unlikely to be achieved, because the region has already been fined for noncompliance with the state’s chloride level; residents can sue the state over the limit, which is unlikely to be successful; or they can choose one of the chloride-treatment options, which are laid out in a draft environmental impact report that’s about to end its public comment period, said Basil Hewitt, senior enigineer for the Sanitation District.

The comment period ended on July 24. The final EIR documents will be released in early October 2013.

The deadline for the Sanitation District to submit a plan for review is Oct. 31, according to a negotiated settlement reached by the Regional Water Quality Control Board and Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District officials.

Board members are planning to vote on a resolution before that date.

The SCV Sanitation District was slapped with a $280,000 fine last year for not meeting the state’s deadline for chloride compliance, which was negotiated down to $225,000.

“(District staff) going to do our best to get it done, we’re going to do whatever it takes,”Hewitt said.

“We don’t want to expose the district and our ratepayers to wasteful and unnecessary fines,” Hewitt said. “Fines that will be even more significant than the last fine of $225,000.”