SLO County water reclamation plant finally moving forward after years of delay
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- County planners finally accepted Cambria CSD water-plant permit application for processing
- Next step: planners will review the environmental impact report before hearings
- Any approvals likely face appeals to supervisors and the California Coastal Commission
Cambria’s embattled, delayed water reclamation facility took a major step forward this month after years spent in permit limbo.
County planners have officially accepted for processing the Cambria Community Services District’s project application, after finishing a lengthy review of all the documents and responses submitted, according district general manager Matthew McElhenie.
He broke the long-awaited news during the North Coast Advisory Council’s Oct. 15 meeting and in a “blast-out” email he sent to community members the following day.
The plant, which was built more than a decade ago, only operated sporadically during severe drought conditions, thanks to problems with its design that have required additional regulatory approvals.
Over the years, the planners frequently requested more information, some of which had to come out of lengthy, expensive studies of the habitat and other aspects of the plant.
County planners now will check the district’s environmental impact report. If that passes muster, the project’s discretionary permit application would head for a hearing before the county’s Planning Commission.
McElhenie estimated Wednesday that the project’s application could go before planning commissioners in early to mid-2026.
However, as McElhenie told the advisory council, the CSD expects appeals will be filed against any approval, bouncing the issue upstairs to county supervisors and/or the California Coastal Commission.
At the advisory council’s meeting, the GM called getting the permit accepted for processing a “monumental step forward to getting the project approved.”
The community has faced frequent dry spells and droughts, and the district occasionally had to place restrictions on water use. Some of those limits remain in place.
It’s taken a long time, a lot of work and many time-consuming, costly studies to get the permit application to this point. A list of just some of the steps it took for that to happen is on the district’s website.
“This project is as controversial as any in Cambria’s history,” McElhenie wrote in a June 8 email to ratepayers and others.
What is the water-reclamation project?
The CSD’s water-reclamation concept and plant, which treat effluent and brackish water and reinject it into the aquifer, have been a lightning rod since they were first proposed.
Some said from the outset that it wouldn’t work. Others alleged it would cost way too much for such a small community of about 6,000 people. And some environmentalists decried its potential impact on the sensitive habitat near San Simeon Creek, where the plant is located.
The facility at 900 San Simeon Creek Road was built in 2014 and commissioned for operation in 2015.
The district ran it off and on for testing of several months at a time between 2015 and 2017, under an emergency, drought-triggered permit. But the project had serious design flaws, especially in its brine-evaporation pond.
State water officials issued a cease-and-desist and closure order for the pond in 2017.
Since then, the CSD’s water department has only run the plant very briefly, occasionally, just enough to keep the equipment and filtration membranes functional.
“To maintain membrane viability, instrumentation health and system readiness, operations staff typically run the facility for several hours every one to two weeks, depending on seasonal conditions and equipment checks,” McElhenie said Wednesday in response to questions from The Tribune. “This prevents biological fouling, protects the reverse-osmosis membranes and ensures the plant can be brought online quickly during periods of water shortage.”
A continuing emergency permit allows it to operate longer than that only during an officially declared, severe water shortage or drought, but the brine would have to be hauled out of town to a licensed disposal site.
The district is due to do a test run soon on a sample, zero-discharge project that could reduce costs to handle the leftover brine that’s a byproduct of the reclamation project.
Meanwhile, ratepayers keep shelling out for ongoing expenses, including the more than $13 million, 20-year loan on a facility that, for years, hasn’t been able to produce water for their town.
The project’s primary loan “is scheduled to be fully paid off in 2038 under the current amortization schedule,” McElhenie said. He also noted that “the district also carries standard municipal infrastructure debt associated with water-distribution improvements and wastewater capital projects.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 11:00 AM.
