SLO County town asked residents to reduce water use. Now ‘issues have been resolved’
San Simeon residents and businesses were asked Monday to temporarily reduce their water use because the district’s supply of drinkable water from its well could be too low to meet demand.
To cover any potential shortage, a sister agency in Cambria supplied drinking water to the San Simeon Community Services District.
As of Friday evening, the Cambria Community Services District announced via email, “San Simeon’s water issues have been resolved.
“As of 5 p.m. today, San Simeon has not requested any more potable water from us,” the email read, giving “kudos for the teamwork between Cambria CSD and San Simeon CSD water operators to help resolve this issue.”
Water quality in the San Simeon district’s supply well had been the core issue, Steve Orellana, San Simeon CSD district superintendent and chief plant operator, said around 1:30 p.m. Thursday as two water trucks were delivering emergency supplies.
“There’s turbidity in our well, and we’re unable to pump out of it,” he said, adding that the district is now supplying the community’s water from its back-up 150,000-gallon reservoir.
The community’s average use is about 45,000 gallons a day, although current use may be less than that, Orellana said, because of the ongoing closure of Highway 1 and recurring storms throughout the winter.
Those may be keeping people away, he explained about tourists and the seaside town’s part-time residents.
Motels reportedly use about 70% of the district’s water output.
Orellana said he’s expecting delivery soon of new filters for the district’s Water Reclamation Facility, which should help alleviate the problem.
On Monday, the district delivered a notice to most households and businesses that read, “Due to the ongoing storm activity in the area, we are requesting that you voluntarily refrain from doing laundry and non-essential use. The notice also is posted on the district’s website.
“With this storm activity, we are experiencing a water quantity issue and are requesting that you please conserve water until Friday, 3/24/23.”
Cambria provides San Simeon with emergency water
According to a Cambria Community Services District’s email on Wednesday, that district will be providing San Simeon with a short-term emergency supply of supplemental water.
The email read in part, “San Simeon is having issues with their water supply, and our district will provide assistance by providing them with potable water. This is only temporary and will not affect our current customers.”
Ray Dienzo, acting general manager of the Cambria CSD, addressed the issue in an interview Wednesday night, saying, “We’ll supply them with the water. They’ll have to truck it out there.”
He said the water probably would come from a hydrant by the Veterans Memorial Building, because it’s supplied by a 10-inch water main “and there’s a lot of pressure there, so it won’t cause a pressure drop” for the rest of the community.
Charles Grace of Grace Environmental Services attended the district board’s in-person meeting Tuesday but apparently didn’t mention those issues then.
With nice weather finally forecast for the March 24-27 period, SSCSD board member Michael Donahue said Wednesday night that he expects more people might decide to visit the seaside community then, and the district’s water usage might increase.
“We need to do a number of things to make sure this never, ever happens again,” Donahue said.
The CSD also is dealing with several other issues, including recent violation notices from the State Water Resource Control Board about plant-operator licensing and availability, and an upcoming court session on a civil suit filed against Charles Grace and Grace Environmental Services in 2021 by the county district attorney.
This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 1:58 PM with the headline "SLO County town asked residents to reduce water use. Now ‘issues have been resolved’."
