Los Osos could get $8 million for pipeline that would bring state water to town

Los Osos may be in line for an $8 million federal grant to connect the community to the State Water Project that runs to Morro Bay.

The water would provide a supplemental source to the town of 14,000, which is now 100% dependent on groundwater wells for drinking water.

The money would come from the annual Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) funding through the Army Corp of Engineers, which passed both houses of Congress this summer and is expected to be signed into law, according to a representative from Congressman Salud Carbajal’s office.

That House version of the bill includes an earmark for Los Osos Community Services District to receive $8 million to pay the cost of laying a 2.5-mile, 12-inch pipeline to connect to the State Water Project that brings Northern California reservoir water to the Central Coast.

Carbajal staffer Greg Haas said that funding for the project was included in the bill passed by the House, although he didn’t have an update on the final version agreed to in conference.

Carbajal spokesperson Ian Mariani confirmed that the funding for the Los Osos project is still in the WRDA bill, but the overall legislation still needs to be reconciled with the Senate version and signed into law by year’s end.

“We’re hopeful to see it moving in December,” he said.

The Water Resources Development Act “is the authorizing legislation for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), which allows the Corps to conduct studies, construct projects and research activities to improve U.S. waterways,” according to the National Association of Counties. Since 2014, WRDA legislation has passed in a biennial cycle.

Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed their respective WRDA 2024 legislation. The House passed its version on July 22 in a bipartisan 359-13 vote while the Senate passed its WRDA bill by unanimous consent on Aug. 1.

The bill has wide support from both sides of the aisle because the measure includes hundreds of projects in both red and blue states.

Making the cut

Ron Munds, general manager of Los Osos Community Service District and a supporter for the request, said he is “hopeful we can make the final cut.”

The local CSD has already completed preliminary planning and engineering for the pipeline.

During wet years and based on supply, the Los Osos CSD could receive unused allocations of State Water Project water through the Central Valley project to offset pumping in the Los Osos Groundwater Basin or as an emergency water reserve.

The project is expected to bring 200 acre-feet of state water a year to Los Osos to be used to recharge groundwater supplies, which have been in overdraft for decades. Los Osos uses about 1,000 acre-feet a year, pumped from wells around town.

Despite the 200 acre-feet number, the county has informed the CSD that up to 600 acre-feet a year of potable water from the Central Valley Project can be made available at the proposed intertie location near South Bay Boulevard and Highway 1. There, the water transmission system is the Chorro Valley Pipeline (CVP), which delivers state water to the city of Morro Bay

Construction of the pipeline and intertie could begin sometime in 2025 and be operational by 2026, one report predicts.

The idea is that the project would bring potable water to the district’s water distribution system, thereby reducing the amount of local groundwater pumping from the Los Osos Groundwater Basin (and providing further protection against seawater intrusion).

“We will be able to supplement our water supply,” Munds said, likely on a year-by-year basis depending on how much is available. ”We won’t be dependent on it,” he added.

“Without it, Los Osos is vulnerable” in a time of climate change, he said. “With the project in place, we will be better able to balance the basin.”

As to where the water supply would come from, Munds says he has had discussions with SLO County staff, which has a contract with the State Water Project and a surplus supply.

If the project gets a green light from Congress, ”we will work out something with the county and won’t wait to move forward,” Munds said.

John Lindt is the editor of the news website Sierra2theSea.net.