With its only well in danger, Los Osos water provider needs help. The solution? Merge with CSD
Two Los Osos water purveyors could consolidate during the next year.
On Thursday, the Los Osos Community Services District Board of Directors voted unanimously to take steps to absorb S&T Mutual Water Company.
This means the CSD will explore the option of providing water to S&T Mutual Water Company’s customers, CSD general manager Ron Munds said. If the CSD board ultimately approves the consolidation plan, S&T Mutual Water Company will dissolve.
S&T Mutual Water Company serves 179 connections with a singular well on the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, according to a report by the water company. That well is experiencing increasing levels of nitrate contamination and saltwater intrusion, the report said.
All three water purveyors draw from the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, which is polluted by intruding seawater and nitrates from farming and septic systems — limiting water use and development in the community. S&T Mutual Water Company is located on the western side of the basin where seawater intrusion is the most severe, according to the report.
The CSD, however, has five wells and more funding than S&T Mutual Water Company to maintain its infrastructure. Merging with the CSD would create a more secure water supply for S&T’s customers, Munds said.
Meanwhile, the CSD is pursuing grant funding to build a pipeline to connect Los Osos to the state’s Chorro Valley Pipeline — which would supplement water drawn from the Los Osos Groundwater Basin and further bolster the CSD’s water supply.
“S&T is already a part of the Los Osos CSD service area, and we believe that our two systems would create a logical and hardy connection to ensure we all have a secure, safe and reliable source of water for many generations to come,” S&T Mutual Water Company board president Julie McAdon wrote in a letter to the CSD Board of Directors.
What are next steps for merging Los Osos water purveyor with CSD?
Los Osos is served by three water purveyors: S&T Mutual Water Company, the Los Osos Community Services District and the Golden State Water Company.
S&T Mutual Water Company serves the Sea Pines Golf Course Restaurant and the Sunset Terrace neighborhood, which uses about 5% of Los Osos’ drinking water. Meanwhile, the Los Osos CSD supplies 52% of the community’s drinking water and Golden State Water supplies 43%, according to the letter.
On Thursday, the board approved S&T Mutual Water Company’s request to merge with the Los Osos CSD, kickstarting the consolidation process.
This authorizes Munds to work with S&T Mutual Water Company to draw up plans for consolidation.
“Conceptually, I like this idea,” CSD director Matthew Fourcroy said. “I think this is a really cost-effective way for S&T to essentially get more wells.”
The CSD Board of Directors will have opportunities to approve or deny the consolidation effort again in the future, Munds said.
“This is just the first step,” he said. “There will be off-ramps for the CSD along the way.”
S&T Mutual Water Company could choose to merge with Golden State Water Company instead, but S&T shareholders expressed that they prefer to join with the CSD where they can attend public meetings and be more involved in decision making, McAdon said.
“It’s really important for our shareholders to have local governance,” she said at the meeting.
To move forward, S&T Mutual Water Company must build a 6,800-foot pipeline to connect its customers to the CSD’s water supply, the staff report said.
The water company and CSD will pursue grants through the California State Water Resources Control Board’s SAFER Drinking Water Program to cover the cost of construction.
Other next steps include coordinating the the California Division of Drinking Water Office and eventually signing up S&T customers with the Los Osos CSD.
If all goes according to plan, S&T Mutual Water Company would dissolve in about a year and the Los Osos CSD would take over its services.
