Pismo Beach, the last city standing with the Central Coast Blue water recycling project, authorized $42 million to design and construct an advanced water purification facility to boost water security for the city.
“This community, this council has demonstrated that protecting water is the top priority,” City Manager Jorge Garcia said at the Oct. 6 City Council meeting. “This project is not about growth. … It is about replacing water that is vulnerable and susceptible for our other three sources.”
The city relies on Lopez Lake, imported water from the State Water Project, and groundwater from the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin. All three sources depend on rainfall, which is becoming less reliable, according to Pismo Beach.
Originally, Central Coast Blue consisted of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Arroyo Grande banding together to inject treated wastewater into the groundwater basin to protect against seawater intrusion and drought.
In 2022, Central Coast Blue’s price tag was $93 million. But by 2024, the cost shot up to between $134 million and $159 million. Both Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach pulled their funding from the project.
On Oct. 6, the Pismo Beach City Council voted to dissolve the Central Coast Blue Regional Recycled Water Authority.
With roughly $35 million in grants from organizations like the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the state’s Water Recycling Funding Program and the Integrated Regional Water Management, Pismo Beach is now investing in a large-scale water purification facility.
“The size of this plant, 1 MGD [million gallons per day] or less than 1 MGD, that is the future of recycled water,” Garcia said. “That is why the state and the federal government have devoted quite a bit of financial resources.”
The city manager stressed that small cities can take on big projects when there’s community and City Council support. In a unanimous vote, councilmembers greenlit a $39 million agreement with PERC Water Corporation to construct a 750-acre-foot-per-year facility.
The council also authorized a $2.2 million agreement with GHD Inc. for “owner’s advisor services” where a dedicated expert represents the project owner’s best interests across all phases of development.
Construction is scheduled to take place between June 2027 and February 2028. Pismo Beach Public Works Director Rosemarie Gaglione told council members that by Sept. 17, 2028, the plant should produce purified water, and the injection well should pump that water into the ground.
At the meeting, Pismo Beach resident and mayoral candidate Cynthia Replogle said that residents need oversight, clear terms, protection of their money, and a true cost estimate.
“I’m asking you to continue this item to a date certain and direct staff to return with option B [smaller facility] scope written into the contract; the chemical and energy guarantees restored, with numbers; a plan for injection capacity that matches what we’re buying; and a projected rate impact for water and sewer customers,” she said.
Until recently, Replogle was a standing witness in a 2024 Luis Obispo Coastkeeper against SLO County, which alleged that the county’s operation of Lopez Dam harmed the threatened steelhead trout by altering water flows.
The litigation required Replogle to provide sworn testimony about her years of directly engaging with cleanup efforts and recreational activities around Arroyo Grande Creek.
Replogle announced on her campaign website that she withdrew as a witness in August since that role might create a conflict of interest while she runs for mayor.
‘This project is not about growth. … It is about replacing water that is vulnerable and susceptible for our other three sources.’
—Jorge Garcia, Pismo Beach city manager
In a Facebook post ahead of the Central Coast Blue discussion, Replogle’s opponent, sitting Councilmember Scott Newton, pointed to her involvement in the lawsuit.
“Water security is a top priority for my campaign,” Newton’s post read. “Unfortunately, recent litigation over our Lake Lopez water supply by extreme groups has put our resources at risk. Even more troubling, one of my opponents has been directly involved in this lawsuit—a legal battle that has already cost our taxpayers over $800,000 (and climbing) and resulted in massive amounts of water being unnecessarily released from our dam. While our successful appeal has thankfully stopped the drainage, it underscores how fragile our water supply can be.” ∆
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2026.
