New health regulations put Santa Ynez water in short supply

click to enlarge New health regulations put Santa Ynez water in short supply
FILE PHOTO BY CAMILLIA LANHAM
THIRSTY RIVERBED: After more than three years of drought, the Santa Ynez Water Conservation District recently declared a Stage 1 Water Emergency and is contemplating a Stage 2. A Stage 1 declaration asks customers to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20 percent, while Stage 2 requires cutbacks.

It turns out more than just three years of drought can significantly affect water supplies in a community. The Santa Ynez Water Conservation District is saying a new California Department of Public Health regulation will severely restrain its ability to provide water to its customers.

Chris Dahlstrom, the district’s general manager, said the community depends on its groundwater supplies to get through dry periods—such as this one—and that the new regulations could put up to six of the district’s Upland Water Basin wells out of commission.

“With only three wells, we’re concerned we can’t produce enough water to meet demand,” Dahlstrom said. “We can’t increase the pumping on those three wells to produce what we would be able to with nine wells. … Looking at the future, this district could face substantial difficulties.”

The district recently declared a Stage 1 Water Emergency and is contemplating a Stage 2. A Stage 1 declaration asks customers to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20 percent, while Stage 2 requires cutbacks.

The new rule, which goes into effect on July 1, reduces the amount of Chromium 6 allowed in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion. Chromium 6 is a naturally occurring substance that can also be a byproduct of industrial processes. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently studying the effects of exposure to Chromium 6 because it’s potentially carcinogenic when ingested.

In other words, the EPA is worried ingesting large amounts of the substance could cause cancer, but hasn’t finalized its study yet. And, as usual, California is well ahead of national health regulations, which sets the Chromium-6 standard for drinking water at 100 parts per billion.

Ronald Owens, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health, said he was unable to answer the Sun’s questions before deadline.

Normally, the rule wouldn’t be such a big deal—though Dahlstrom estimates the capital cost of installing water treatment facilities to be upwards of $25 million—because the district isn’t completely dependent on groundwater supplies. The Santa Ynez Water Conservation District pulls from four sources: the Upland Basin, the State Water Project, Lake Cachuma, and the Santa Ynez River underflow.

However, State Water Project flows are pretty much nonexistent at this point; Cachuma Water Project participants have agreed to take 55 percent less water in the 2014-2015 water year; and downstream releases for the Santa Ynez River are highly dependent on Lake Cachuma’s supply.

Dahlstrom said, on average, the drinking water from three of the wells punched into the groundwater basin that underlies the Santa Ynez Valley comes in under 10 parts per billion for Chromium-6, three of the wells are at the edge—between 10 and 15 parts per billion—and three are above it with an average of 30 parts per billion of the substance.

“The Upland Water Basin has allowed us to weather many droughts,” he said. “Now, we’re in a very different situation.”

What would help the district’s situation is a little bit of leeway, some sort of legislative timeline to help implement the new water standards. Dahlstrom said he’s not getting any help from local legislators, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara).

In the meantime, as the start of the next water year rolls around on Oct. 1, district officials are going to seriously look at how they can cut back. At the June 17 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting, Dahlstrom said agricultural operations would most likely be the first customers to get their water shut off. They consume about 50 percent of the 5,700 acre-feet of water the district pumps out annually.

“Agriculture, under the district’s rules and regulations, is interruptible,” he told supervisors. “We’re in reasonable shape for now … as of Oct. 1 things are going to change.”

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