By Neil Farrell
It’s taken nearly 7 years but the water purveyors in Los Osos, plus the County, have produced an agreement to manage and sustain the groundwater basin in town.
The so-called “Basin Plan” got started in 2008, after the Community Services District sued Golden State Water and S&T Mutual to bring them to the table to address over-pumping and saltwater intrusion.
The underground water basin is the town’s sole source of drinking water at this time, with the wells sunk 700-800 feet deep.
A judge ordered the parties to work together on a plan and it’s taken until now in 2015 for it to be ready to hand over to the judge. It was first released for public comment in August 2013.
“The updated Basin Plan establishes goals, timeframes, milestones, and metrics to address basin management by sharing resources and responsibilities,” reads a statement from the CSD. “The Los Osos Community Services District, Golden State Water Company and S&T Mutual Water Company, as well as the County of San Luis Obispo worked together to develop the immediate and continuing goals, and to create a framework that defines the fiscal and management authority to finance and implement the Basin Plan projects. Both the plan and the cooperative authority described in the plan will be submitted to the Superior Court for approval in 2015.”
The top aims of the plan are to halt seawater intrusion and provide sustainable water supplies “for existing and future needs for Los Osos.” Strategies outlined in the plan include:
• Implementation of conservation measures,
• Shift pumping away from the coast to halt seawater intrusion,
• Beneficial use of recycled water from the new wastewater treatment plant, and
• Redefine “safe yield” limit to reserve 20 percent of the safe annual yield to create a buffer to protect the basin. (Safe yield is the amount of water that can be extracted every year and be replaced with rainfall.)
“The Basin Plan establishes clear goals and metrics to measure our success,” said Kathy Kivley, CSD general manager. “And we must be successful. This plan is vital to the future of Los Osos, and the cooperation these groups have shown in developing the plan should be encouraging for communities around the state facing similar water challenges. We can and will work together toward a sustainable solution.”
The CSD has been asking its customers for more than a year to cut water usage and a renewed attempt in recent months has proved successful thus far. The CSD board was to hear a report on the water conservation efforts and possibly contemplate harsher restrictions on water use if necessary.
As for the goals, the CSD is looking at drilling new water wells further from the front of the seawater intrusion, which cuts a swath across the open space area between Broderson and Palisades Avenues. The CSD fears the advancing seawater could contaminate a key well on Palisades near the public library, and is looking into drilling new wells over by South Bay Boulevard or the Santa Ysabel Avenue area.
As for the sewer plant’s contributions, the plant is still a year away from completion and it’ll be another year or two before everyone gets hooked up to the system, and it can start supplying reclaimed water.
That water is to be released for the most part into a huge leach field, located on the hillside above the south end of Broderson Avenue.
To see the Basin Plan for yourself, go to: www.slocountywater.org/site and scroll down towards the bottom of the page for the link.
