Templeton may help Santa Lucia School provide drinkable water 

The Templeton Community Services District (CSD) will begin working with Santa Lucia School to connect it to district water as the nonprofit currently has a failing well and non-potable water.

At the Sept. 3 CSD meeting, Santa Lucia School board Treasurer Vallar Wahba said Santa Lucia is a small school with a limited number of staff members, so their water issues have been more than they can handle.

click to enlarge

• Photo Courtesy Of Stacy Burk
• WATER WOES Unable to comply with state water regulations, Santa Lucia School is asking Templeton CSD for assistance.

"The woman that has been [handling the well monitoring] since almost the beginning of the [school's establishment], maybe 30 years, she got lax and we weren't really aware of that," Wahba said, but did not state the individual's name.

According to Miller Drilling Company—a water well drilling, pump sales, and services company—the school's well has reached the end of its useful life and is heavily impacted due to tree roots.

The State Water Board reported that the school has consistently failed to collect the necessary monitoring information and is currently past due on all required raw sampling data—most of its monitoring information is more than 10 years old. The state agency recommended the school connect with Templeton's water system.

In order to be considered for connection, the CSD would have to amend its water code, which currently only allows for applications from residences.

The CSD board directed district staff to create two options for the school: Draft an amended water code ordinance that will allow nonprofits and public serving agencies to get an emergency connection when there is a public health and safety issue, and also investigate whether the school can submit a riparian agency agreement.

The board will consider the issue again in October. Δ