There’s not a single group in California more aware of the state of its aging water systems than its local agency water managers. It’s part of the reason why Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) hosted a roundtable on April 23 in Santa Barbara to alleviate concerns and present a draft of a new bill he hoped to release that week.
In attendance were water district managers from all across Santa Barbara County, including Santa Maria, Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, Buellton, Solvang, Carpinteria, Goleta, and Montecito.
The legislation would establish a grant program for five years administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The money is currently proposed to arrive in $50 million annual installments to recipients.
“It’s different than other programs because this one focuses on creating resilient infrastructure and expanding water quality and conservation, including wastewater,” Carbajal explained, adding that he co-authored the bill with Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning), a Republican.
Carbajal said he hoped the bipartisan support would help push the legislation through “traditional channels,” or by simply passing the bill on the house floor as it stood.
If that failed, Carbajal told the Sun his office planned to attach the legislation to the Water Resources Development Act. However, the Central Coast congressman expressed optimism that his co-author across the aisle would help generate enough momentum to push the bill forward in its current iteration.
At the meeting on April 23, water managers tried to paint Carbajal pictures of the state of their water districts while also helping him identify their biggest needs.
“One thing that is difficult for us, especially as a small city, is the cost to go after and administer grant programs,” Buellton Public Works Director Rose Hess told the room. “So anything [the bill] would do to help minimize the additional administrative burden on us, would be great.”
Vandenberg Village Community Services District Manager Joe Barget said that his, Lompoc’s, and Mission Hill’s districts all shared the same large, “healthy” groundwater basin but pointed out “we totally rely on groundwater.”
Barget took exception to some of the legislation’s language.
“There’s an angle here about ‘effects of climate change’ and hydrological changes,” he said. “I don’t know how that relates to our situation. Our biggest need in my district, and speaking for Lompoc and Mission Hills a little bit as well, we are totally a groundwater agency. We have old wells that need to be replaced, and we need money for that.
“We don’t really need additional sources of water or anything fancy in that regard, but just to replace what we have,” he added.
Chris Dahlstrom is the general manager of the Santa Ynez River Conservation District. He said that based on his experience working with the state of California, one of the most difficult things for a local district to grapple with is actually getting funding.
“It’s literally impossible for small agencies to get money: It either has to be a disadvantage community or a large [desalination] project from a city that can get funding, but when we talk about small rural communities, that’s one of the biggest concerns,” he said. Dahlstrom noted how his district had been fighting for years for funding to mitigate chromium 6, a naturally occuring mineral that degrades water quality.
“We had to turn to a $12.5 million bond, which is a real burden,” he added. “I’m hoping that this kind of House bill will free up some of the money or make it easier, but when I look at the EPA and see that Administrator [Scott Pruitt], boy the red flags go up.”
Dahlstrom said that water conservation was already happening all over California, especially in agricultural areas.
“What we really need is aging infrastructure funds; that’s the big ticket,” he added.
Carbajal told the water district representatives that day that he hoped and believed his bill would remedy many of their concerns.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 3, 2018.