Dear Friends & Neighbors,
North Monterey County is populated with hundreds of small water systems. There are over 1,250 water systems in the county serving 2-199 connections. About two-thirds of these are in District 2, particularly in North County. While there are larger water systems of 200 connections and more that serve Salinas, Castroville and some of the rural areas, there are approximately 20,000 people in North County served by these smaller systems.
Monterey County’s Health Department is responsible for guaranteeing the quality of the water in these systems. The water systems with 15-199 connections are governed by the regulations set forth by the state. The county administers those regulations with no input on how those regulations should be applied or changed. I managed one of those water systems for seven years. I am fully aware how onerous this can be. In my opinion, the state places an unnecessary gauntlet of regulations on these systems. Most of the systems have fewer than 60 connections. Many have just 15-25 connections. It is easy to run afoul of complicated state requirements. Although the limited staff available in the Monterey County’s Drinking Water Protection Services tries to assist these systems, the staff’s time and efforts are limited by the complexity and scope of dealing with over 1,250 water systems.
For those systems that have 2-14 connections, Monterey County has full control over the regulations that it adopts and administers. There are 970 of these systems in Monterey County. Of those, 235 have serious water contamination issues.
The contamination problems include nitrates from over-fertilization of farms or leaking septic tanks that contaminate many wells. Other contaminants include arsenic, hexavalent chromium, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane and others. Traditionally, solving these contaminants requires expensive centralized treatment systems that could cost upwards of $100,000 or more. Such a treatment system would push up monthly water costs to as much as $500 per connection. None of these costs even include the maintenance of these centralized systems. Clearly, this would bankrupt neighborhood water systems. Fortunately, the state realizes that and is not pushing these expensive treatments for those who can’t afford it. However, that does not mean the water is healthy to drink or to even use for bathing. People are forced to use bottled water or smaller treatment systems placed in their homes. Undoubtedly, there are some residences that use neither.
The state and county’s solutions have been to urge people to consolidate with another system, drill a new well or put in a treatment system. For most water systems, none of that is feasible. State grants are few and far between to assist. The state’s ultimate goal is to rid North County of all the small water systems, whether they experience water problems or not. But it is a long, long time in the future before that will ever happen – if it ever happens.
One of the alternatives to a centralized system is to put in a small water treatment system at each residence. These treatment devices are called Point-of-Use and Point-of-Entry (POU/POE). POEs are placed at the main water line to a home and treat all water coming into it. POUs are placed where the water is used, such as near a kitchen faucet. The state offers this option to water systems with 15-199 connections. There are a few catches, though. For a system to be certified as compliant, all connections in a water system must use a POU/POE.
San Lucas in South County faces serious contaminated water problems. There are 98 connections in that system. Efforts were made to follow state regulations on using POU/POE treatment systems. Of course, the problem is that not all 98 residential connections would agree to implement POU/POEs. Those efforts were dropped. San Lucas is still waiting for an answer to its water woes.
Monterey County is looking to implement its own POU/POE ordinance for the 2-14 connection systems. There are several changes that I feel must be adopted in this ordinance before I can support it. One of those changes is removal of the requirement of 100% use by all connections in a water system.
This matter will be coming before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, November 7th and will have significant impact on many water systems in District 2 now dealing with contamination. I believe that we need to allow POU/POE systems for use and certification by the county. There are many reasons for this besides just safe drinking water. One of those is that when homeowners seek to sell a house, they must disclose any problems with the home and property. Unsafe drinking water is one of those problems. Selling a home that has undrinkable water is typically difficult and depresses the home’s value. If the home is certified with safe water by a POU/POE treatment system, then that is no longer a problem. If you would like to make your voice heard on the matter before the Board, you can attend in-person, via Zoom, or email your comments to cob@co.monterey.ca.us. For more information, please visit glennchurch.com/publiccomment.
Water is essential. Safe drinking water is essential. There is not a golden fix for our water problems in Monterey County, but we can chip away at the problems to make the water safer. It is going to take time, but it is essential that we move in this direction.
As always, don't hesitate to reach out to my office for assistance. You can reach us at 831-755-5022 or district2@co.monterey.ca.us.
Sincerely,
Glenn Church
District 2 Supervisor
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