Could San Luis Obispo’s wastewater help save Edna Valley agriculture?
That was the question of the night on Nov. 15 for the SLO City Council, which took a deep dive into the future of its recycled water program—including whether it wants to sell any “extra” water to Edna Valley to help neighboring farmers reduce their draw on groundwater.
By a 4-1 consensus (with Councilmember Jan Marx dissenting), the City Council agreed that it’d be a good use of city resources to explore short-term sales of recycled water to the Edna Valley region.
“I think there is a broad recognition of the economic and environmental benefits of having a successful agricultural community surrounding us,” Councilmember Andy Pease said at the Nov. 15 meeting.
“I am totally in favor of selling, as long as our needs are being met,” added Councilmember Carlyn Christianson. “Short-term support of green, agricultural land around us is a good investment while they [Edna Valley farmers] get their—let’s use a non-technical word—shit together and figure out what they’re going to do about the fact they have an overdrawn basin.”
In the long term, SLO city has ambitious plans for its wastewater. As part of a $111 million upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant, it plans to use advanced technology to treat the city’s sewage to levels that will eventually be suitable for drinking water.
But those plans are a ways off—at least eight years away—according to city officials, and currently the city produces more recycled water than it has uses for.
Right now, the city deploys it to help with landscape irrigation, construction dust control, and supplemental flow to the San Luis Obispo Creek (which is where any excess recycled water goes).
During the Nov. 15 meeting, city staff outlined more potential short-term uses for recycled water: like expanding irrigation at local parks, business parks, and residential common areas and offering water to farmers inside city limits.
But the potential to sell water outside of the city to Edna Valley—one of SLO County’s dominant wine regions—drew the lion’s share of the public’s attention and council discussion. Edna Valley growers have expressed interest in the city’s recycled water for more than a decade, according to George Donati, vice president of the Edna Valley Growers Mutual Water Company.
“In 2009, agricultural interests in the Edna Valley initiated discussions with the city to redirect the excess recycled water going to the ocean to instead go to the Edna Valley to supplement water resources,” Donati said in a public comment letter. “The city has long recognized the significance of the valley as part of [the] greenbelt to the city, which includes most irrigated land in the Edna Valley.”
According to Donati, in 2019, Edna Valley farmers put forward an offer to the city saying that farmers would be willing to pay for a pipeline to bring water to the valley “at no cost to the city” and “would take water only when it exceeded the city’s needs.”
The pandemic sidetracked those discussions, but Donati said that the project is more urgent than ever. The region is required by the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to address its groundwater overpumping. State grant funds are available to help push a potential project forward with application deadlines looming, he said.
SLO city officials have opted for a cautious approach. In the Nov. 15 council report, staff outlined a series of concerns about water sales to Edna Valley. Among them: Doing so could create new environmental habitats and expose the city to litigation to maintain those habitats. Another: Recycled water might be used to justify new residential or commercial development.
But a City Council majority felt that those concerns could be dealt with in contractual language. Mayor Erica Stewart said she was in favor of the short-term recycled water sales as long as the pitfalls could be avoided.
“I think we want to make sure we’re doing two things at the same time, if we can, which is helping our general community and helping our neighbors in the agricultural community,” Stewart said. “And if we can do both, that’s an awesome experience.”
The idea had plenty of detractors, though. Several SLO residents submitted emails to the city objecting to the idea of sending any treated wastewater out of town. Councilmember Marx shared their perspective.
“I think city residents need to come first. I think that selling water outside of city limits would create a tremendous distraction for staff and our legal staff,” Marx said. “It would distract us from very important work that’s ahead, … and it would set a dangerous precedent.”
Marx said that the city should not feel obligated to “rescue the Edna Valley from their own lack of water conservation over the years,” and feared that any amicable agreements with farmers now could eventually turn sour down the road when the city no longer wants to sell recycled water.
“Why should the city take on additional risks in this particular situation? We’re going to build all this infrastructure, put this huge burden on our staff, and then we’ll say, ‘Oh well, sorry, now we need the water, you can’t have it,'” Marx said. “Because the drought is getting worse and worse and worse, … just when they [the farmers] need it the most is when the city will need it the most. And that’s when we’ll pull back. And that’s when the litigation will start.” Δ
This article appears in Holiday Guide 2022.
Respectfully, NO.