Synopsis - In 2007, the City of Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District made commitments to build a wastewater treatment plant that achieves tertiary treatment standards by 2014. Recent events appear to indicate that they may be planning to renege on those commitments. This would mean that reclaimed water would not be available to supplement Morro Bay's extremely precarious water supply, and Morro Bay residents could be faced with increased water use restrictions and higher-than-necessary water bills.
Apparent Move Away From Tertiary Treatment
In 2007, both the City of Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District (CSD) committed to providing tertiary treatment of wastewater as part of the current wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) replacement project. This objective was to be met by 2014. The Settlement Agreement for Issuance of Permits to and Upgrade of the Morro Bay/Cayucos Wastewater Treatment Plant includes this statement: "On April 27, 2006, the JPA approved the upgrade of the Plant to meet full secondary treatment standards by March 31, 2014." And, "On May 24, 2007, Cayucos Sanitary District Board of Directors unanimously approved a further upgrade of the Plan to achieve tertiary treatment standards within the same time frame. On May 29, 2007, the Morro Bay City Council also unanimously approved a further upgrade of the plant to achieve tertiary treatment standards."
Morro Bay City Attorney, Robert Schultz, was recently asked if the city and the CSD still intended to keep their 2007 commitments. He replied in a June 29, 2011 email, stating, "Your references in the settlement agreement are to 'recitals.' Those recitals are correct and the Council and Board took those actions and there has not been a change in that direction. However, the terms of the Settlement Agreement begin on page 3. The Settlement Agreement and Conversion schedule are quite clear and unambiguous that the city must meet full secondary treatment by March 31, 2014. RWQCB does not have the ability under Federal and State Law to require a public agency to upgrade to tertiary treatment. Therefore, the settlement agreement could only require secondary treatment."
Some residents found the city attorney's comments somewhat difficult to interpret, and recent statements and actions by City of Morro Bay staff and officials appear to indicate the intent to renege on the commitments made in 2007. In the spring of 2011, the existence of a "Plan B" version of the WWTP project was revealed. Plan B would involve upgrading the existing plant, rather than building a new one. The upgraded facility would only be capable of full secondary treatment.
More clues can be found in the City of Morro Bay's 2010 Draft Urban Water Management Plan. On page 4-14 of the plan is the statement, "The City plans to have recycled water available by planning year 2020." The plan also cites references from the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study, City of Morro Bay and Cayucos Sanitary District. That study presents several arguments against water recycling projects which would require tertiary treatment.
Included in the Draft Urban Water Management Plan are claims that there are no customers for recycled water from the WWTP. Yet, representatives of local farmers have appeared at numerous public meetings and expressed an interest in buying the water when it becomes available. The plan also appears to state that the city does not want to pursue the idea of reclaiming and recycling water in the foreseeable future. Under the heading, "Optimization and Incentives for Recycled Water Use" is the statement, "Apart from upgrading the level of treatment at the plant, and a settlement agreement with the High School which could require their use of recycled water, the City does not have any plans in place to encourage uses of recycled water."
Content of a contract between the city and the CSD and the Dudek consulting firm may also indicate that the city and CSD want to distance themselves from prior commitments to tertiary treatment and water reclamation. The contract includes this statement, which refers to the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study that was cited in the Draft Urban Water Management Plan: "The consultant shall prepare a preliminary water reclamation project analysis that relies upon the 1999 recycled water feasibility study."
The contract further states, "This preliminary analysis would be sufficient to address the Sustainable Use of Public Resources Component of the LCP for the proposed project and alternative sites (up to three total). The analysis will be based on the updated assessment of potential demand for reclaimed water prepared under Phase I above and the various issues and benefits associated with implementing a water reclamation program, including the feasibility of constructing infrastructure to accommodate a water reclamation program. Potential reclaimed water projects will be focused on irrigation and industrial uses."
The Dudek contract includes additional requirements that the consultants rely on the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study: "The conclusions of previous studies relative to groundwater basin recharge and potential benefits to stream habitats and water supply will be reviewed and summarized in the analysis. The analysis will summarize potential revenue generation and impacts of salt/nutrient loading on a potential reclaimed water program. Recycled water quality is understood to be insignificantly different from the 1999 study and further evaluation is not expected to be necessary. Commentary will be provided on the recycled water quality relative to agricultural uses – the city will furnish recent water quality analysis for Consultant's reference."
Questions Arise Regarding Reliance on the Ten-Year-Old Comprehensive Recycled Water Study
Much of the justification for the apparent move away from tertiary treatment of wastewater by 2014 appears to be taken from the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study that is cited in both the Morro Bay 2010 Urban Water Management Plan and the Dudek contract. The study was prepared for the city and the CSD by Carollo Engineers. To some residents who have reviewed its content, the document appears to be significantly out of date.
For example, the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study's conclusions regarding the risk of seawater intrusion have been challenged. The study claims that, "Some areas which have experienced sea water intrusion in the past are not expected to see intrusion in the near future due to reduced pumpage of wells resulting from the availability of Coastal Aqueduct water." In fact, the city's 2010 Draft Urban Water Management Plan quotes that statement.
However, at present, there is evidence that significant risk of seawater intrusion exists. When Dynegy requested a permit for a new well on power plant property, the reason given was that the old well that was to be replaced was going dry. Some residents contend that when a formerly-productive well in that location goes dry, the risk of seawater intrusion into the aquifer is real and imminent.
The study's contention that seawater intrusion is unlikely due to the "availability of Coastal Aqueduct water" appears to be out of sync with current situations and events. When too much water is taken from the ground through use of city wells, the risk of seawater intrusion increases. The major 2010 cutbacks of deliveries of state water to the City of Morro Bay appear to indicate that the city will, at times, be dependent upon well water, and that the degree of that dependence cannot be accurately predicted.
California's Current Health Law Related to Recycled Water: Specifically—regulation 60310—does include specific requirements for irrigation with disinfected tertiary recycled water within 50 feet of any domestic water supply well. It also states that, "No impoundment of disinfected tertiary recycled water shall occur within 100 feet of any domestic water supply well." However, some residents familiar with the Morro and Chorro Basins assert that there are sparsely-populated agricultural areas within both areas, and that groundwater recharge could be accomplished without risk of impacting any domestic wells.
Study content regarding the impact of ocean discharge of treated WWTP effluent also appears dated. The study asserts that there is no evidence that WWTP discharges affect the environment, stating, "Ocean monitoring over the last decade has shown no negative environmental impact associated with discharge."
Recent studies have shown otherwise. For example, the December, 2010 Journal article, "Nonylphenol is Polluting the Water in Morro Bay and other Coastal Areas" describes the effects of nonylphenols on gobi fish in the Morro Bay area. Nonylphenols are known to be present in treated effluent from wastewater treatment facilities.
The use of the allegedly-outdated 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study to justify current decisions and actions regarding the WWTP project is not unprecedented. In 2010, the city attempted to use another ten-year old report to justify another action, the granting of the permit for the well on power plant property. That attempt failed.
The reasons for the failure are noted in these comments made in the 2010 CCC staff report regarding the issuance of the well permit: "In its determination regarding the impacts of the project on groundwater, the city relied on a previous hydrological study that was prepared approximately 10 years ago for the California Energy Commission in its investigation of MTBE contamination in the overall aquifer. According to the city's public services director, the study included a description of the impacts of the ongoing use of existing well #3, and showed that the use of the existing well at that time was not impacting the use of nearby city wells.
"The study did not analyze the impacts of any increase in the quantity of water extracted from this well, and it did not analyze the relocation of the well approved by the city. Rather, the study was focused on questions that were relevant a decade ago in relation to MTBE contamination. There is nothing in the city's notice to indicate that the ten-year old study was updated to reflect current groundwater data, and/or that it was updated to address questions relevant to the way in which the new well would operate, and/or that it was updated to reflect a new extraction point.
"In short, the city did not have adequate scientific evidence to determine that the approved project would have no impacts on the quantity or quality of groundwater, especially because the city did not analyze the impacts of using increased quantities of water from the new well or the impacts of extracting water from the new well at its new location."
Some residents suspect that the attempt to use the 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study to support current projects and documents is also destined to fail. To those residents, it appears that basing any important document or decision on the content of the old study is, at best, short sighted. At worst, it might be an indication that the outdated study is being used as part of an attempt to back away from commitments to include tertiary treatment and water reclamation in the current iteration of the WWTP project.
Water Supply, Tertiary Treatment and Water Reclamation
The 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study states that as of 1999 current water supply is sufficient to meet demand, although it might not be so in the future. That is one issue on which the study's authors and concerned residents seem to agree.
That future time mentioned in the study has arrived, and Morro Bay's water supply is precarious, at best. This was obvious in 2010 when the State Water Project drastically cut Morro Bay's water allocation, forcing the city to scramble to meet basic water supply needs. Those issues were discussed in detail in the March 2010 Journal article, "Morro Bay's Precarious Water Supply."
There are specific State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) rulings regarding the amount of water that the city can pump from its wells in the Chorro and Morro Basins. However, there are some additional issues in the Chorro Basin, where the city's current main supply of well water, well 11A, is located. These issues stem from the fact that no part of the city overlies the Chorro Basin.
An "appropriator" of water from a groundwater basin is a city, water district, or other user that takes water from a basin that it does not overlie. The City of Morro Bay is considered an "appropriator" of any natural water taken from its Chorro Basin wells. Appropriators have lower rights to the natural water in a groundwater basin than landowners whose properties lie above it. This law only applies to natural water, and not to California Men's Colony WWTP discharges that make their way into the aquifer. However, it still covers a considerable amount of the water in the Basin.
The 1903 California Supreme Court case Katz v. Walkinshaw established the concept of "overlying rights." Later court decisions established the requirement that overlying users be given priority over appropriators. What this means for the city is that in times of shortage, the people who live in the Chorro Valley have first rights to the natural water in the basin. If the city's use of its wells negatively impacts the production of the wells used by the landowners, they can petition the SWRCB for assistance. If the SWRCB found that the city's diversions of natural water from the basin were adversely impacting a "prior right holder," the agency could direct the city to either cease diversion or at least provide water to the affected party or parties.
Tertiary treatment of the Morro Bay-Cayucos WWTP effluent would allow it to be reclaimed and used for a variety of purposes, meaning that the city's dependence on state water could be reduced. One possible use would be recharging the Morro and Chorro groundwater basins that supply the city wells.
Well Water Permits and Water Reclamation
It is possible that terms contained in Morro Bay's city well permits might be used to require the city to implement tertiary treatment of its wastewater in order to facilitate water reclamation. Those terms strongly encourage water conservation and reuse.
On page three of each of the city's Chorro Valley well permits (1972, 1982) is this statement: "The continuing authority of the Board may be exercised by imposing specific requirements over and above those contained in this permit with a view to eliminating waste of water and to meeting the reasonable water requirements of permittee without unreasonable draft on the source. Permittee may be required to implement a water conservation plan, features of which may include but not necessarily be limited to (1) reusing or reclaiming the water allocated; (2) using water reclaimed by another entity … ." This statement appears to indicate that the city could be required to implement water reclamation as a condition of keeping its right to use its Chorro Valley wells.
Recent events have shown that during droughts and during the annual state water shutdowns, the city's dependence on well water can be quite significant. For example, in 2009, a petition to the State Water Board for permission to use one of the Chorro Valley wells under an emergency waiver stated, "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." At present, other water sources, such as desalinated water from Morro Basin wells, are available, but they are very expensive.
Because the City of Morro Bay depends heavily on its well water, it appears that the SWRCB and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) could force the city to implement tertiary treatment. As the Morro Bay City Attorney Schultz stated, the "RWQCB does not have the ability under Federal and State Law to require a public agency to upgrade to tertiary treatment." However, the RWQCB reports to the SWRCB, and the SWRCB is the agency that has control over the city's well permits.
As previously noted, the terms of the well permits include this statement: "The continuing authority of the Board may be exercised by imposing specific requirements over and above those contained in this permit with a view to eliminating waste of water and to meeting the reasonable water requirements of permittee without unreasonable draft on the source." Hence, it appears that the SWRCB could, under the terms of the well permits, add a water reclamation requirement to permit conditions at any time. Due to its dependence on the wells, the city would appear to have little choice but to comply.
The Big Questions
Why, after making the apparent 2007 commitments to tertiary treatment by 2014, would the city and the CSD back away from them? Some suspect that the answer to this question will also answer some other questions posed by residents:
· Why would the city and the CSD instruct Dudek consultants to base much of their work on the seriously-outdated 1999 Comprehensive Recycled Water Study, a document that discourages water reuse, rather than asking them to work independently to come up with their best analysis and recommendations based on current information and situations? As noted above, Dudek in its Scope of Work presents an optional task of doing an "update" of the "1999 recycled water feasibility study..." So it is going to be MB/CSD's choice, which, chances are, the CCC, if not the RWQCB/state board will require.
· Why did some staff and elected officials appear to work so hard to drive out PERC Water, the firm that could have built a lower-cost, technically-superior plant that would have delivered tertiary-treated effluent, with final costs and rates guaranteed in advance?
· Why did Mayor Yates react with anger, and threaten to fire the city's own Planning Commission after the commission found fault with and rejected the WWTP Draft Environmental Impact Report?
· Why would the city violate its own Local Coastal Plan to approve a permit for a power plant property well that would deplete our city wells and potentially increase the risk of seawater intrusion into the aquifer?
· Why did the City of Morro Bay ignore the recommendations of their paid financial consultants and choose such seemingly-inappropriate areas for redevelopment?
One Possible Answer
Anyone who wants to develop the power plant property will need a considerable amount of water. California law requires proposers of any large development to prove that there will be adequate water supplies to support it. The law is the result of two State bills that became effective on January 1, 2002. In particular, SB 610 requires that all projects subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") prove that there will be enough water to support any major commercial projects or subdivisions. Details are in Water Code Section 10910.
In 2007, provisions of the law were clarified by the California Supreme Court in the case, Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rancho Cordova. The Court established principles that government agencies must follow when evaluating water supply impacts of land development projects.
As discussed in Journal articles, Mystery in Morro Bay, and Mystery in Morro Bay - Update, some residents believe that proposed development on power plant property explains a lot of seemingly- inexplicable actions. The 2010 CCC staff report on the power plant well permit appears to indicate that the report's authors might also have suspected that the well was intended to support a large development project.
In their report, CCC staff stated, "When an urban area lacks critical infrastructure—such as water in Morro Bay—to support additional urban development, it does not mean that urban uses should proceed incrementally, using what are essentially rural-level services (e.g., private water supply wells). The proliferation of such private services within an urban area causes practical problems (e.g., wells stop producing, such as is apparently the case in this project) as well as planning problems. In addition, these services often draw from the same source as public supplies, further exacerbating public service constraints and related problems. Furthermore, such private services can lead to unchecked environmental degradation (e.g., exceeding safe groundwater yield, reducing required in-stream flows, etc.). Ultimately, incremental private service development in urban areas that are served by public utilities can lead to serious cumulative environmental resource impacts such as groundwater overdraft, polluted groundwater, degraded riparian habitat, and so on. Therefore, utilities that are public, not private, are the most appropriate way to serve development in the city under the Coastal Act and the LCP."
According to the CCC report, "…the city did not limit the amount of water that could be extracted from the new well in any way. Thus, and despite the applicant's observation regarding the quantity of water that would be used from the new well, the approved well has the potential to extract a significant amount of water from the Morro Basin, which could result in adverse impacts on the quantity and quality of groundwater. The approved well would be drilled to a depth of 100 feet and would have a capacity similar to the capacity of the original Well #3, which was designed to pump 125 gallons per minute. At 125 gallons per minute, the well could produce a hypothetical maximum of 180,000 gallons per day, or over 5 million gallons in a month, or over 60 million gallons in a year."
And, "In short, the city-approved project represents an increase in water withdrawals in an area of limited water supply, without any condition limiting the amount of water that the applicant could withdraw."
If, indeed, an intended purpose of the power plant property well was to support development, the loss of the permit for that well was a blow to the would-be developers. The well might have provided a significant portion of the water supply that would be needed to move forward with their project.
Without the possibility of obtaining a reliable water supply from private onsite wells, what alternatives are open to would-be developers of the power plant property? It appears that their options are few, and in most cases, prohibitively expensive. However, were they able to buy secondary-treated water from a nearby WWTP and clean it up, using some sophisticated process that would befit a "green university," the developers would essentially have a reliable water supply for decades into the future, and might even claim to be providing a service for the city.
A major problem with this scenario is that the residents of Morro Bay would suffer. Instead of being used to address Morro Bay's serious water supply problems, and to keep down residents' water bills, reclaimed water from the WWTP would benefit only the power plant property development. This would enable a select few individuals to make a great deal of money—at the resident's expense.
The Potential Impacts on Morro Bay Residents
Regardless of whether power plant property development is the motive behind the seemingly-strange statements and actions made by some city and CSD staff and officials, delaying the implementation of tertiary treatment and reclamation of wastewater would be detrimental to the residents of Morro Bay. Without reclaimed water to recharge the aquifers and/or to otherwise supplement city residents' current water supply, shortages would continue and could, quite possibly, grow worse over time.
State water supplies are expected to become more strained and increasingly unreliable as time goes by. City residents' water bills would continue to climb as reliance on desalination and high-priced water sources increased, and water shortages could result in stringent water use restrictions for residents.
If Morro Bay and the Cayucos Sanitary District build a new plant capable of tertiary treatment by 2014, and develop the water reclamation plans that the CCC and most residents want, it is highly likely that the CCC and the residents will insist that the reclaimed water be used to benefit the residents, supplementing and/or enhancing the supply of city well water. This will be a major factor in ensuring that that Morro Bay residents' water costs will be as low as possible, and in preventing and minimizing future shortages.
