For nearly 40 years, the opponents of a sustainable water facility, like Ms. Tina Dickason (“Vote for no growth,” Sept. 24) and her predecessors, have blocked Cambria from relieving its chronic water shortages by propagating unfounded fear that supplementing our inadequate natural water supplies will lead to rampant population growth and runaway rate increases. Sadly, Cambria’s water security and the health, safety, and comfort of its residents have been held hostage to these fear tactics. However, we are finally solving Cambria’s persistent water problem by finalizing a flexible regular operating permit so the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) can use the Sustainable Water Facility (SWF) to avoid stage 3 water shortages, not just react to dreadful water emergencies.
If you wish to remain burdened by these scare tactics, as we have been for 40 years, vote for the candidates endorsed by Ms. Dickason.
On the other hand, if you want Cambria to secure its water future based on science, engineering, and fact, not rumor, innuendo, and fear, please consider voting for Tom Gray and David Pierson for CCSD director. In making your decision, you may wish to consult the tools presented below.
Cambrians for Water has prepared a series of six published position papers that dispel criticisms of the water facility. You may access the papers by clicking on “hot topics” on the home page of our website: cambriansforwater.com.
Position Statement 1: C4H2O’s Objective is Water Security, Not Population Growth discusses why the SWF will not result in rampant growth. Position Statement 2: The SWF is Cost Effective demonstrates why the SWF will not lead to runaway cost increases.
We hope all six papers are informative and helpful. We also invite you to visit our website to learn who we are and what Cambrians for Water does. If you are interested in joining our email list to receive regular messages about the SWF and related water issues—it’s free—just click “contact us” on the website or write us directly at cambrians4water@gmail.com.
Remember, to secure Cambria’s water future, vote for Tom Gray and David Pierson for CCSD director.
Mark Rochefort
Cambria
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 8, 2020.
Runaway rate increases have already happened and there is no end in sight. Cambrias rate payers have already doled out $18,000,000. for this facility and annually dole out nearly $1M in costs related to it. And what do ratepayers have in the way of water security?
The brine waste pond has been decommissioned due to problems with the liner and because it was flooded during the rainy season, drying blowers are mothballed, the RO filters were recently replaced at the cost of $50,000., the re-injection site has to be re-worked, and still most of the requirements for permitting have not been completed (costing ratepayers to pay the fines). Not to mention a costly lawsuit against the engineering firm who came up with the plans for the plant. All this in just the first 6 years of the facility that has only a 20 year lifespan.
No one can say what the AFY costs will be. Still, there are the C4H20 folks saying to back Tom and Dave so we can have more if this??? Wow.
Tom and Dave have stated they would be willing to dump the (18,000 gallons of) brine waste the facility will produce -DAILY- into the ocean in our local marine sanctuary (elephant seal rookery area) if there was a way to do it! The good news is that there isnt a way to do that. The bad news is that Cambrians will have to pay up to $5145.00 dollars per day to truck the stuff to Oceanis waste ocean outfall if the facility runs the way they want it to.
Cambrians can not afford to vote for Dave or Tom who the C4H20 gang is recommending. It makes no fiscal or ethical sense to run the Emergency Water Supply facility more than it was intended and built to run: IN AND FOR EMERGENCY STAGE 3 Drought SITUATIONS.
HARRY FARMER and KAREN DEAN have my votes for sanity and fiscal responsibility in the best interest of ratepayers!
Oh, and by the way, ALL Cambrians are 4H20!!!
For REBUTTALS to each and every one of the C4H20 position statements, go to http://PROTECTCambria.com
Holly, the brine is less salty than is the sea. And the trucks would be taking the brine to the same ocean.
I cannot wait to see you and your group eat crow Mark. Your deception and misleading this community has cost people time and energy that you cannot ever afford to repay. You should be ashamed of yourself but you dont have that kind of class… “its not in you”
The point is adding more brine to the ocean only adds to the Florida sized foot deep salt tablet the U.N. world environment study tells us humanity is pouring into the ocean yearly. The question is Barb “when do we stop using the Ocean as an open sewer”? Additionally, the boron and other hazardous chemicals create a toxic stew as declared by the state.
Desal ocean outfall anywhere is horrid and candidate Tom Gray expressed in his Q and A zoom that thinks we should dump it right here out of San Simeon’s outfall next to the marine sanctuary! Dumping this waste on the sea mammals I have worked to save and preserve for four years really angers me and should alarm everyone.
Barbara, the brine waste evaporation pond was decommissioned because of flaws in the liner that prevents the waste from soaking into the ground. If the waste is that dangerous to contamination of land, then the thought of dumping it into the ocean in up to 18,000 gallons per day is unconscionable.
Allowing more new houses to be constructed based on the idea that the expensive water this facility may produce will be enough to serve them, the current residents, tourists and support the natural landscape and wildlife, as Tom Gray and Dave Pierson advocate, assumes that it can produce that much water. At any price. It can’t. And that ignores the issues of fire protection, ability to evacuate in the event of fire. Cambria is struggling to pay for needed improvements to its wastewater treatment plant, because the community ignored it over the years in favor of this EWS. The community wants a skate park. Cambria can’t afford it, because it’s spending over $1 million this year alone on the facility. Which isn’t producing any water. The idea of adding new water users is irresponsible. Cambria hired Paavo Ogren as its advisor on the permit, and he advised against trying to get the plant permitted for new users. The district ignored his advice.
the author of this letter has insulted the intelligence of Cambria ratepayers. We’re done being blind sided & screwed no more back door deals, no more rate increases ..the firefighters union support Karen Dean, Harry Farmer & Dave Pierson…..
In response to Mr. Rochefort’s LTE today, I have the following comments to share with readers.
As far as securing Cambria’s water future, I worked with rancher, Clyde Warren, and presented to this community, the Warren Reservoir project in Jan 20, 2014–the capacity of which was estimated to be 600-700 acre feet. It would have been a far more environmentally friendly solution to Cambria’s water woes. It was supported by the County Planning Dept., and at the time, $7.5 billion dollars were available through Prop. 1 for dams, reservoirs and desal projects. The Coastal Commission maintained that such a project would have far less ESHA issues. So please don’t tell me about Cambria’s water security. I did my best to actually get us a project–one that would not only have provided a supply of water for residents and businesses, but also as a much-needed resource for fighting fires–we live in a forest!
The Cambria CSD Board, back in 2013–a year of extreme drought, had two goals : 1) To lift the building moratorium
implemented in 2001 (and still in effect), and 2) To issue up to 20 Intent to Serve Letters. Quite remarkable considering the GMO, RMS, building moratorium and Water Code 350 factors (see below). But that was the mindset then, and it really hasn’t changed.
A majority of Cambrians, through a Proposition 218 rate increase in June of 2014, supported the building of an Emergency Water Supply (EWS) brackish water desal project, to serve current residents with a reliable water supply during Level III Drought Emergencies, declared by the Cambria CSD. We never had the opportunity to vote for the changed project, the Sustainable Water Facility (SWF)–that was done behind closed doors. Why the change of name? By changing the name and making modifications to the Sustainable Water Facility (SWF), to allow more flexibility in the operation of the facility, would also allow for growth to occur in Cambria. Cambria remains in the County’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) at 0%, and at a Level III Level of Severity (LOS) in the Resource Management System (RMS). In addition, we remain in a water Code 350, and a building moratorium, implemented in November, 2001. So how is it possible for there to be growth in Cambria under these scenarios? That is the questions many Cambrians have, and which remains to be seen.
The EWS project was built 6 years ago, yet the District remains without a Coastal Development Permit (CDP). Cambrians are not to be blamed for poor decision making made by previous and current boards and staff. Changing a project from one name and purpose, to another, has a lot to do with why this process has taken so long. We have recently learned that the application sent to the County on July 15, for approval, was only 13% complete–after 6 years! County Planning has asked for numerous requirements and data to be provided. We are also learning that a County CDP may not be forthcoming for up to another two years. By the time the District may actually get a CDP, this project could become obsolete.
Cambrians for Water, (C4H20), are really about growth, no matter how they may wish to camouflage the facts.
From their website’s Mission, under #4, they make it quite clear:
” Support Cambria’s 2008 Water Master Plan established goal of no more than 4,650 residential water connections.”
Yes, exactly, that means building out by approximately 700 parcels, while we remain in a water moratorium, a zero percent growth rate and a Level III level of severity. Go figure!
Cambrians, don’t be fooled when you vote in this election, because you are either voting for growth vs. no growth; an EWS vs. a SWF, and more costs without a doubt! It’s your choice, but I’m sticking with KAREN DEAN and HARRY FARMER to make the best decisions for our community. I’ve had enough of the pro-growth folks and their deceptions!
This morning on the beach off Shamel Park in Cambria, a young family saw a jelly fish.”Don’t touch it,” said the father, “it could be poisonous.” The three children looked fascinated and a slight bit scared.
I thought again of the millions of barrels of DDT that have just been discovered on the ocean floor off of Los Angeles. Some are leaking poison into the ocean.
The intense discussion about the EWS and SWF should always begin with this question first. Since tens of thousands of Cambrians and visitors have used water from San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks for decades, has this left the creeks and environs in good health?
If you can find evidence that says the answer is “Yes,” please post the links. After living in Cambria for 18 years and doing a good deal of research, I have learned that our human actions have had the contrary effect. As climate change evolved into climate crisis, we humans daily run into the hard wall of privileged need slamming into nature’s facts.
I also found a young live sea star on the beach this morning, not killed off by the densovirus or other contaminants…so far. In my experience such a find is a treasure in the perspectives of Karen Dean and Harry Farmer too That’s one of the reasons I voted for them.
Barbara Gray The brine waste is not the brackish water that the process begins with! It is the concentrate of salts and other particles (effluent) that was to be stored in the pond that failed. It cannot be dumped into our environmentally protected waters because it is beyond foul. Oceana is outside of the environmental protections of our coast–unfortunate for them and the sea life that will suffer.