Los Osos may be in line for an $8 million federal grant to hook up the community to the State Water Project that connects to Morro Bay. Los Osos – the San Luis Obispo County town of 14,000, is 100% dependent on groundwater wells for drinking water.
In Washington,the annual Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) funding through the Army Corp of Engineers has passed both houses of Congress this summer and is expected to be signed into law, says a congressional source.
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.
Representative for Congressman Salud Carbajal, Greg Haas has said that funding for the project was included in the bill passed by the House although he doesn’t have an update on the final version agreed to in conference.
Ian Mariani of Carbajal’s office confirms that the funding for the Los Osos project is still in the WRDA bill passed by the House earlier this year but the overall legislation still needs to be reconciled with the Senate version of the legislation and signed into law by year’s end.
“We’re hopeful to see it moving in December.”
The National Assn of Counties reports “The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 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. 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 their version of WRDA 2024 on July 22 in a bipartisan 359-13 vote while the Senate passed their WRDA bill by unanimous consent on August 1.”The bill has wide support from both sides of the ailes since the measure includes hundreds of projects in Red and Blue states.
Making the cut
Proponent for the request Ron Munds, General Manager of Los Osos Community Service District says he is “hopeful we can make the final cut.” The local CSD has already completed a Mitigated Negative Declaration environmental clearance on the project as well as the preliminary engineering for the pipeline.
During wet years and based on supply, the LOCSD could receive unused allocations of State Water Project water through the Central Valley project to offset pumping in the Los Osos Groundwater Basin or for an emergency water reserve. The project is expected to bring in 200-acre feet a year of State Water Project water to Los Osos and be used to recharge groundwater supplies- in overdraft for decades. Los Osos uses about 1000af a year pumped from wells around town.
Despite the 200arce-feet number, the County has informed the LOCSD that up to 600 AFY of potable water from the Central Valley Project can be made available at the proposed intertie location near South Bay Boulevard and Highway 1.Here 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”, notes Munds, likely on a year by year basis depending on supply.”We won’t be dependent on it,”he adds.
“Without it -Los Osos is vulnerable” in a time of climate change.
“With the project in place we will be better able to balance the basin.”
As to where the water supply would be coming from, Munds says he has had continuing discussions with SLO County staff who has a contract with State Water 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” expects Munds.
Caption: Pipeline project in Los Osos