The City of San Luis Obispo recently received funding from the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to fund a $6.6 million project to clean up contaminated groundwater.
“This is a win-win for the people of San Luis Obispo,” said Nick Teague, Water Resources Program Manager. “When this project is complete, the City’s water system will be even more resilient and will include clean and safe groundwater.”
Currently, the City of San Luis Obispo does not use groundwater as a drinking water supply. The City’s drinking water currently comes from three reservoirs: Whale Rock Reservoir, Salinas Reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake), and Nacimiento Reservoir. However, the City has been interested in diversifying its water supply to allow for greater drought and climate change resiliency. There was previously a barrier to using groundwater due to groundwater contamination from the presence of PCE, or tetrachloroethylene. PCE is a toxic chemical produced from decades-ago dry cleaning and industrial activities that are no longer active within the City.
Through this project, the City will build two new groundwater supply wells, which are expected to be fully operational in 2026. These groundwater supply wells will be equipped with water treatment systems that will remove all contaminants from the water. The City is working with State and local regulators to ensure that this water will exceed all drinking water standards before adding it to the City’s drinking water system.
“The new wells and treated groundwater will account for 10 to 12 percent of the City’s water supply,” said Nick Teague. “And it will cost the City less to pump and treat the water from the new groundwater wells than it does to pump and treat water from local reservoirs.”
Funding for this project has been provided in full or in part by Proposition 1 – the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the foregoing, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
For more information, please visit the Utilities Groundwater Project webpage.