San Lucas gets funds for water treatment
SAN LUCAS – More than $6 million in long-awaited funds are coming to help bring clean drinking water to the Salinas Valley town of San Lucas, which has gone without for more than a decade.
The incoming funds are a combination of state and federal grants earmarked for the construction of a new water treatment facility.
On Tuesday, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the funding and authorized the Director of Public Works, Facilities and Parks to execute a 10-year, retroactive Memorandum of Understanding from 2025 to 2035 with the San Lucas County Water District to work together on the project.
The town of roughly 325 people, just south of King City, has faced water quality issues since at least 2006 from pollution by nitrates and other compounds.
In 2011 a "Do Not Drink" order was issued, prompting the construction of a replacement well in 2014. The replacement was also deemed undrinkable in 2016. Other attempts have tried and failed over the years, like an effort to connect the town with King City's water supply via pipeline, which was deemed too expensive.
These persistent water woes are often charged with stymying development – such as affordable housing – in the town. In April, lifelong San Lucas resident and longtime school board member Miguel Lomeli said crucial development factors, like population and school enrollment, cannot grow until clean water comes to town.
"We get some good water here in town and that would do a lot to bring more families and more students," Lomeli said.
In June 2025, a new project calling for two new wells and an on-site treatment facility was approved by the San Lucas County Water District.
The total price tag for the project is in the ballpark of $23 million.
Now, this wave of funding – $4 million from the California State Assembly and $2 million in Congressional earmarks – means liftoff for Phase one of the project, involving planning, permitting and design.
The earmarked $6 million will also go toward the construction of a test well, which will collect and analyze water samples, as well as initial drilling for the two main wells.
Supervisor Chris Lopez, who represents the area, expressed optimism about the project at Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting.
"This is one of the my favorite agendas I’ve ever read," said Lopez.
"This board has made this our number one legislative priority for many years and what’s on the agenda is a package put together by our public works team in partnership with the state government, the federal government and us to bring solutions to the ground…to help solve the problem that we’ve been facing for 16 years without drinking water in that community."
With the project slated to move forward, that still leaves roughly $17 million needed to complete construction of the wells, treatment system and other related infrastructure like transmission lines, likely coming from a combination of state, federal and private funding.
According to county documents, before designs are finalized for the main wells, water samples from the test wells must first be analyzed for water quality.
Chris Hamilton is a California Local News fellow covering Salinas and the Salinas Valley for The Herald. To find out more about the California Local News Fellowship, visit https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows/
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