[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATER QUALITY - 3/14/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

March 14, 2008

 

4. Water Quality

 

WELL CONTAMINATION:

Contaminated Wells; Morro ready to fight growers over nitrogen-based fertilizer, which is thought to be tainting water; Growers could face legal action for overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizer, which is thought to be tainting water - San Luis Obispo Tribune

 

SEWAGE SPILL:

Board rejects proposed fine for lagoon spill - San Diego Union Tribune

 

 

WELL CONTAMINATION:

Contaminated Wells; Morro ready to fight growers over nitrogen-based fertilizer, which is thought to be tainting water; Growers could face legal action for overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizer, which is thought to be tainting water

San Luis Obispo Tribune – 3/14/08

By Sona Patel, staff writer

 

Morro Bay city officials said they would likely pursue legal action against about a dozen Morro Valley property owners—most of them growers—if they don’t stop excessive use of nitrogen- based fertilizers suspected of tainting a key source of drinking water.

 

The move comes after the city hired San Luis Obispo-based Cleath and Associates to find what’s contaminating drinking water wells just outside town.

 

A report with results of that study shows water in those wells—a backup water supply for Morro Bay—reaching nitrate levels about four times the drinking water standard.

 

Concerns of nitrate contamination surfaced in November 2006, when the city temporarily halted use of state water during annual maintenance and reverted to those wells for drinking water.

 

When they found high levels of nitrates, they had to treat the water.

 

The city also uses that water during peak season, when Morro Bay’s supply of state water is inadequate.

 

City Attorney Rob Schultz said the excess nitrates could also pose a health risk to property owners in the Morro Valley — an area southeast of town near Highway 41—who use the wells as a source of drinking water.

 

Nitrates inhibit the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and can be harmful, especially to pregnant women, infants and people with blood diseases.

 

City officials last week sent letters to property owners in the Morro Valley asking that they stop using nitrogen-based fertilizer on row crops. Those fertilizers are blamed for tainting four drinking water wells.

 

Schultz said he has not yet imposed a deadline for property owners to contact him.

 

The state’s Regional Water Quality Control Board regulates local water quality standards. Still, the city could take legal action, Schultz said.

 

“We’ll get as big of a hammer as we need,” Councilman Bill Pierce said. “This is our No. 1 fight right now.”

 

In the meantime, Schultz said Morro Bay would work with the regional water board, the county agricultural commissioner and affected property owners to find ways to stem the nitrate pollution.

 

“Our goal is to stop over-application of these fertilizers,” city Senior Civil Engineer Dylan Wade said. “I don’t think they need to cease using them.”

 

Chief among city officials’ concerns are a trio of parcels in the lower Morro Valley believed to be using the most fertilizer.

 

So far, property owners that are believed to be using a majority of the fertilizer have been the least responsive to the letter, according to city officials.

 

However, city officials said those fields, which include nine types of vegetables and avocados, might have been leased to tenant farmers. Because letters were mailed to only property owners, the farmers who may be leasing the land have not been contacted by the city.

 

City officials said they hope the decreased use of nitrogen-based fertilizers would flush the contaminated water out of the groundwater aquifer within the next two decades.

 

“We’re not advocating stopping growing,” Schultz said. “But we’ve got to come up with a plan so we don’t poison the water.”

 

One property owner in Morro Valley—a small-scale avocado grower who received a letter from the city—said he was concerned about the results of the study because he drinks water from those wells, and that he could prove he doesn’t use excessive fertilizer in his operation. He asked that his identity not be published because he has not responded yet to the city’s letter.

 

Hugh Smith, a Santa Barbara farm adviser for the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said asking farmers not to use nitrogen-based fertilizers is like asking them not to use water.

 

“Plants need nitrogen,” he said. “It’s basic to life forms including plant growth.”

 

However, Smith said that asking farmers to reduce how much they use is a separate issue that could be accomplished by working with growers.  #

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/429/story/304191.html

 

 

SEWAGE SPILL:

Board rejects proposed fine for lagoon spill

San Diego Union Tribune – 3/14/08

By Michael Burge, staff writer

 

CARLSBAD – A proposed $700,000 penalty that Vista and Carlsbad would have paid for last year's massive sewage spill into Buena Vista Lagoon is off the table.

 

Michael McCann, assistant executive officer of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the board rejected the proposal Wednesday, and the issue is headed to a hearing.

 

The staff of the regional board originally assessed a $1.1 million fine after a pressurized 24-inch main broke last March on the lagoon's eastern edge. The ruptured pipe spewed 7.3 million gallons of raw sewage into the lagoon, killing 1,700 fish and four birds.

 

The cities and the board's staff negotiated a $700,000 agreement, with $500,000 going to an environmental program that would enhance the lagoon. The remaining $200,000 would have gone into a state fund for enforcing water-quality laws.

 

Carlsbad also is designing a parallel sewage discharge system at the location, Jefferson Street and Marron Road, to prevent breaks from fouling the lagoon.

 

“We always knew the agreement was subject to board approval,” said Darold Pieper, Vista's city attorney. “We were surprised and disappointed the board did not follow the staff's recommendation.”

 

McCann said the board had questions about the settlement and decided to hold a hearing.

 

“At this point, from what I see we are not going to see a settlement,” McCann said. “We're actually planning on going to the mat.”

 

He said the proposal will be that Vista and Carlsbad pay the $1.1 million fine, which would go to the cleanup account.

Asked if any of that money would go to environmental programs at the lagoon, McCann said that would be up to the board.

 

“The gist of this is the board turned down the settlement, so we go back to the drawing board,” McCann said.

 

Carlsbad and Vista share ownership of the pipe, with Vista owning nearly 90 percent of the sewer line and Carlsbad 10 percent. The cities would split any penalty accordingly.  #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080314/news_1mc14buena.html