Morro Bay's Precarious Water Supply
by Kari Olsen
The recently-announced state water cutbacks came as a wakeup call to Morro Bay residents, many of whom had probably never suspected that their water supply was at risk. City government had not fully informed residents about the risk of cutbacks, the potential for loss of State water as a result of natural or manmade disaster, and the full scope of problems with the City’s wells.
Morro Bay receives up to 90% of its drinking water from the state. The city's dependence on state water has been growing in recent years, despite warnings from concerned residents that overreliance on state water could put the city in a vulnerable position. The reality of the situation hit home in late 2009, during the annual state water shutdown, and a water emergency was declared by Morro Bay City government.
The emergency constitutes ample evidence that the city badly needs backup water sources to be used when the state is unable to deliver the water that the city has contracted for. Many residents have long believed that City wells were that backup source, but there are serious problems with both the quality and quantity of water available from the wells.
Morro Bay has several sources of drinking water - State water, the city's Ashurst and Romero well fields in Chorro Valley, the Morro Basin well field, and the City’s desalination plant. However, there are significant problems that restrict the use of the well fields, and the desalination plant, which can supply up to half of the city's needs when running at full capacity, is expensive to operate.
At the time of the state water shutdown last November, the quality of the water in the Morro Bay's Ashurst and Morro Basin wells had been deteriorating for many years. Those wells produced water so contaminated that it required cleaning in the desalination plant before it could be distributed to the City's water customers.
This left well 11A, in the Romero well field near Canet Road, as the only well that could supply water usable without special desalination plant processing to remove contaminants. However, the City could not legally use that well at the time due to State Water Resource Control Board restrictions on use of Chorro Valley wells.
Morro Bay's path to dependence on state water appears to have begun before state water delivery started in 1997. Prior to that year, the Ashurst and Romero well fields in the Chorro Valley supplied most of the Morro Bay's needs, supplemented by the Morro Basin wells located near Morro Bay High School. In 1995, things began to change. A number of farmers and environmental groups complained to the SWRCB that Morro Bay was over-pumping and depleting the aquifers. Farmers, whose riparian rights supersede those of the City, complained their wells were not producing. Environmental groups and the California Department of Fish and Game cited damage to wildlife and the estuary.
The SWRCB responded to the complaints by issuing Decision 1633, which supplemented existing restrictions on the total amount of water that Morro Bay’s City wells could draw from the ground annually. The decision stated that the wells in the Chorro Valley could not be used when Chorro Creek surface flow, downstream of the wells, was less than 1.4 cubic feet per second. The city was ordered to install stream flow monitoring gauges downstream of the Romero and Ashurst well fields to help ensure that the restrictions were adhered to. The devices were to be installed no later than Jan. 1, 1997.
Meanwhile, more restrictions on the city's ability to use its wells were developing in the form of growing contamination problems in both the Ashurst and Morro Basin well fields. City well test results for the years 1997 through 2009, obtained from the California Department of Public Health, show that nitrate levels in the two well fields were exceeding the maximum contaminant level of 45.0 long before the problem was reported to residents. Excessive nitrates in drinking water have been identified as causing “blue baby syndrome”, also known as methemoglobinemia. In addition, studies have provided some evidence that nitrosamine intake may cause cancer in test animals. Conclusive evidence of similar effects in humans has not yet been produced.
In October, 2002, the nitrate level in Morro Basin well 03 was measured at 47.0. A little over a year later, the reported figure was 87.0, and readings over the maximum contaminant level continued through the years. Nearby well 04 showed a similar pattern. The nitrate level in water from well 9, in the Ashurst well field, registered 88.0 in September, 2003, and nitrate levels considerably over the limit were reported frequently in subsequent years. Nitrate levels in nearby well 10 followed a similar pattern. The only well that was consistently clean was 11A, about two miles upstream from the Ashurst wells.
At the same time, coliform bacteria were also detected frequently in the Morro Basin and Ashurst well fields. The extent of the problem is difficult to determine, as it was only the presence or absence of the bacteria that was reported between 1997 and 2008. However, reports for 2009 specified total coliform readings numerically, making it possible to identify the wells with the highest bacteria levels. Well 9 was by far the worst, with a total coliform count over 200 reported three times during the year. This reading has been confirmed by the California Department of Health to be “very high”. The long-standing coliform contamination problem does not appear to have ever been reported to residents.
The presence of coliforms in drinking water suggests that there may be disease-causing agents in the water. Chlorine will kill the coliforms, but may not eliminate all of the other disease-causing pathogens present. The pathogens causing illness such as cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery are most easily killed with chlorine treatment. Cyst-forming protozoa which cause amoebic dysentery and giardiasis are most resistant to chlorine.
Nitrate contamination was finally reported in 2006, when nitrate levels over the maximum contaminant level were found in water delivered to Morro Bay water customers. For several years prior to 2006, the fact that nitrate readings for some of the wells were significantly exceeding the legal limit was not reported in the City's Consumer Confidence Reports, annual City reports to residents on the quality of water they are supplied. Under the heading, “Well Water”, the reports specify the low- and high-end figures for nitrates detected in the wells. In 2003, the figure reported for the high end of the range was 25. However, in that year, the highest well water nitrate figure reported to the California Department of Public Health was 88, the level detected in well 09 in September of that year. In 2004, the Reports indicated that the highest well water nitrate reading was 34, while the highest reading reported to the CDPH was 98. In 2005, the Reports showed a high of 32, while the CDPH data shows a high of 57. Residents pointed out the discrepancies, and subsequent Consumer Confidence Reports have included correct figures for the highest nitrate levels found in the wells.
The issue of contaminated well water again came to light in late 2008. Chorro Valley customers of the Morro Bay Water Department learned that, when Chorro Valley wells were pumping, those customers were receiving well water instead of the blended water that was delivered to other City water customers. Morro Bay had been following that procedure because there is just one water line between the Chorro Valley wells and the tank. When well water is flowing toward the tank, blended water from the tank cannot travel in the opposite direction to the Chorro Valley customers.
Some of the customers, aware of the contamination in the Ashurst well field, contacted the California Department of Public Health for assistance. The Department immediately ordered Morro Bay to shut down the well field. A CDPH letter, dated Dec. 2, 2008, stated, “Unfortunately, the Department was unaware the City was potentially delivering non-potable water to approximately eleven connections…“ The letter also included the statement that, “The Department is requiring the City to cease the use of the Ashurt wells 9, 9A, 10, 10a and 16.” One of the conditions specified for well re-activation was a chlorination plan for the Ashurst wells.
Some of Morro Bay's Chorro Valley water customers have stated that when they complained about the quality of the water they had been receiving, the city's first reaction was a threat to take away their water service. Morro Bay officials have denied that water customers were threatened. However, a city staff proposal to cut off their service is still under consideration. City officials cite the expense of continued service as a major issue. Customers note that without water service, many of their properties would be completely without value, and state that they have documentation that constitutes legal contracts giving them the right to city water. They also state that a return to private wells is not an option until the bacteria and nitrate contamination in the aquifer, evidenced by the results of tests on nearby city wells, is cleaned up.
The source of the well contamination has been a hotly contested issue. Morro Bay has commissioned nitrate studies on the Morro Basin and Ashurst well fields, and those studies cite agriculture as the cause. However, some local water activists allege that the studies are flawed. Richard Sadowski and Marla Jo Bruton point out that the nitrate problems in the Morro Basin wells began very suddenly in 2002, with dramatic increases in nitrate levels occurring only in November when the wells were heavily used. They state that the city-commissioned nitrate study presents no possible cause for the suddenness and scope of the increases. They allege that sewage from the Morro Bay's dilapidated sewer lines is the source of the nitrates and coliforms in the Morro Basin wells, and state that isotope studies appear to point to sewage, rather than fertilizer as the nitrate source. Others suggest that in the Chorro Valley, the primary source of well contamination is sewage from a local commune. The nitrate study for the Ashurst wells notes that there is an indication that at least one well has been affected by sewage, but holds to the premise that agriculture is the primary culprit.
Well water contamination issues are not the only water-related issues impacting the city at the present time. Morro Bay is being investigated for violating SWRCB Decision 1633, and using the Chorro Valley wells when it was not authorized to do so. The situation was brought to the attention of the SWRCB's Water Rights Division after residents noticed something they believed was odd about the city's July, 2009, stream interference test at the Ashurst well field.
Although the city was not permitted to use the wells when the surface flow of Chorro Creek was under 1.4 cubic feet per second, several persons living near the well field noted that, at the time of the test, the stream around the Ashurst wells was completely dry. Morro Bay water production reports obtained by a resident show that during the test, over 2 million gallons of water were pumped from wells. The water was disposed of in a nearby field. That resident complained to the City Council, and reports that after that, the test was immediately stopped.
The resident reports that inquiries to the city as to how a stream interference test could be done on a dry stream have gone unanswered. In early 2010, the same resident requested a copy of the consultant's final report on the test and information on its cost. Information provided by Morro Bay indicated that no report existed, and that the total spent on consultants' fees and equipment rental was about $30,000.
John Jones, a Chorro Valley rancher who resides near well 11A, was concerned about the violation of the farmers' riparian rights and filed a complaint with the SWRCB shortly after the July test. An investigation by the SWRCB's Water Rights enforcement agents determined that Morro Bay had never installed the flow monitoring devices ordered in Decision 1633, and had been in violation of the decision since it was issued in 1995.
As the investigation proceeded, persons living near well 11A noted that Morro Bay had not ceased its use of that well, despite the fact that its ongoing violation of the SWRCB decision had been brought to light. The reason soon became clear.
The city had hired the Sacramento law firm of Ellison, Schneider & Harris, L.L.P. to help Morro Bay deal with the SWRCB. On Nov.17, 2009, during the annual State water shutdown, the law firm filed a “Petition for Temporary Urgency Change, permit 20867 (application 24245) Held by the City of Morro Bay”. Attachments to the petition included these statements, “These actions are necessary to prevent an emergency because the Romero well is the City's only source of water supply during the scheduled SWP shutdown.” and, “The City requires the ability to pump water from the Romero well in order to meet the municipal water demand. The City simply cannot cease diversions at its Romero well without great risk to the health and safety of its citizens.”
Further explanation included in the petition attachments clearly shows the seriousness of the situation: “Until recently the City has relied on desalinated water and diversions from the Morro Creek subterranean stream to meet water demands during the annual SWP shutdown. Unfortunately, since 2006, the City has faced restrictions on its ability to utilize groundwater from both the Morro Creek system and parts of the Chorro Creek system due to nitrate contamination issues. Since 2006, the City has been forced to treat water from the Morro Creek system at its Desalination Facility to deal with nitrate contamination. Unfortunately, this facility has limited capacity and cannot treat enough water to meet the City's water demands. It is also extremely expensive to use the Desalination Facility as a water treatment plant. In 2008, the City approved a project to allow simultaneous groundwater and sea water treatment at the Desalination Facility, but that project is not yet completely operational.”
After state water service was restored, Morro Bay withdrew its emergency petition. Then, just a few days after the city stated that the emergency was over, the state water cutback announcement was made, and Morro Bay was forced to return to the Water Rights staff to ask for another waiver to use well 11A.
Local water activists have advised Morro Bay officials that state water is not guaranteed, and could be reduced at any time by the State Water Project. It could be cut off completely due to natural or manmade disaster. The activists warn that by “putting their eggs in one basket”, city officials have greatly increased the risk that one day, Morro Bay residents could turn on their taps and find that nothing comes out. Some say this is an exaggeration, but most seem to agree that having reliable backup water sources is absolutely essential, and that at the present time, the city's water problems are cause for very serious concern.
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