The Los Osos Community Services District (CSD) is considering its next steps in building a potential pipeline connection into the State Water Project.
The CSD board of directors will meet on Feb. 2 to discuss a request for proposals that, if issued, would kick off the necessary environmental work for a 2.5-mile intertie—envisioned to run alongside South Bay Boulevard and connect with a state water turnout in Morro Bay.
Last year, the CSD board directed its staff to explore the pipeline project, part of an effort to augment the community’s water supply. Los Osos is entirely reliant on a groundwater basin threatened by overdraft and seawater intrusion.
According to a Feb. 2 meeting report, the CSD already started talks with SLO County about acquiring state water and will continue negotiations about potentially subcontracting for an allotment.
“Climate change and extended drought conditions on the West Coast are a reality and must be planned for by all local water agencies,” the CSD’s report reads. “This project would allow delivery of potable water to the district’s water distribution system, thereby reducing the amount of local groundwater pumping from the Los Osos Groundwater Basin.”
The environmental analysis for the pipeline is currently budgeted at $80,000—with a 20 percent contingency—but that expense hits at a difficult time for the district.
Due to damage suffered in the Jan. 9 storms, a CSD-owned Cabrillo Estates drainage basin will require at least $1 million in emergency repairs. The board is discussing a funding strategy for that repair work on Feb. 2 and expects to eventually receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
While Los Osos takes a hard look at investing in new water sources, recent water level and quality metrics for the groundwater basin show some signs for optimism.
Biannual basin data released on Jan. 26 from October 2022 showed that chloride (salt) measurements remain relatively steady throughout the basin, after an alarming jump in those metrics a few years ago.
The overall water table level also continued to rise, according to last fall’s numbers, despite an extremely dry spring and summer.
“What jumped out to me was the water level looked healthy,” Los Osos CSD General Manager Ron Munds said. “You’d think that would be stable, or going down, but it’s not. It’s still coming up.”
Munds told New Times that water officials are still closely monitoring the chloride metric, which is an indicator of seawater intrusion. That datapoint has gone up and down in recent years.
“That’s been our concern. That’s one we’ve been watching carefully,” Munds said.
Water purveyors are addressing potential seawater intrusion by moving their pumping farther away from the coast as well as expanding their monitoring network. Overall, Munds thinks the basin is in a “stabilized period.”
“I think we’re holding well,” he said. “After some severe drought conditions [before the recent rains], it will be very interesting to see what our spring data is.” Δ
This article appears in Feb 2-12, 2023.