COMMUNITY NEWS
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SqCWD Candidates Answer Questions
ncumbents Bruce Daniels and Tom LaHue and challengers Corrie Kates and Maria Marsilio are running for two seats on the Soquel Creek Water District board. They answered these questions posed by Times Publishing Group, Inc. Here are their responses in alphabetical order. ••• In the January survey of 427 ratepayers, 61 percent called the drinking water contamination by saltwater from the ocean a very serious or somewhat serious problem, down from 76 percent who said it was a serious problem in 2015. Do test results or other reports show the saltwater threat is easing? What is the situation?
Bruce Daniels: We all have more problems on our minds today than in 2015. I assure customers that their tap water is safe in the health and climate-change crises we’re witnessing – for now. Our community’s willingness to conserve reduced overpumping. Can people continue at the same level with homes threatened by fire and COVID-19 mandating frequent washings? Our Water District had to try the easy solutions first, like any doctor would. Now we need stronger medicine. There is no doubt among experts about this current bump-up in our water emergency. The State Department of Water Resources listed our groundwater basin as one of the 21 “Critically Overdrafted” basins. Recent airborne geophysical measurements show that our seawater intrusion threat is closer than we expected. On our East and West sides, monitoring wells show salt pollution. Enter the long-term planning strategy of our current Water Board, which had a regional plan in the works. A bold new state law requires that our plan be implemented. We’re ready for it. The plan has been unanimously approved by the 3 big water agencies, the County, and the Coastal Commission. A few people may not like every provision, but the plan works or fails as a whole. Corrie Kates: According to the Santa Cruz Mid-County Ground Water Agency, “... over the years, the local agencies have been taking actions to bring the basin back into balance by promoting water conservation and reducing groundwater withdrawals, moving pumping away from the coast, working collaboratively with partner agencies and private well owners, and developing a new source of supply. While we have been successful with several of these actions, developing a new source
Bruce Daniels
Corrie Kates
of supply has been a very hard challenge in our community.” I agree that continued action is needed and that will be my charge as a Board Member. It is important but not as stated by the incumbents stating it is an emergency. So as with other water districts I would look for opportunities that are within budget and obtainable. Tom LaHue: There are two important reasons it is imperative to act: 1) There is clear evidence of ongoing seawater intrusion at monitoring wells along our coast. Experts in hydrology determined minimum groundwater levels that are needed to prevent further seawater intrusion. While groundwater levels in some areas have met those minimums, water levels are still low in other areas and seawater contamination continues to move inland. Until those protective levels are reached, contamination from seawater intrusion is an imminent threat. A recent geophysical survey demonstrated that seawater intrusion is in the aquifers right at the coastline threatening to move inland and destroy our water supply. 2) The State has designated our groundwater basin as critically overdrafted. If we fail to make the basin sustainable, the State will take over and mandate water rationing and fees. Cooperatively, all the local water agencies created a Groundwater Sustainability Plan to protect our groundwater basin from further seawater intrusion, leading to sustainability. An integral part of that plan is the PureWater Soquel groundwater replenishment project that will create a barrier of purified recycled water to prevent seawater intrusion. It is the only available drought-proof way to reliably recharge and protect the groundwater basin for future generations.
Tom Lahue
Maria Marsilio
entire district. Also, several questions need to be answered about the study. What was the size of the sample in 2015? Were the same people asked the same questions in both studies? The following test results were provided in the presentation of March 15, 2018, by Max Halkjær of Ramboll and Cameron Tana of Hydrometrics regarding the Report Titled “Hydrogeological Investigation Salt-Fresh Water Interface – Monterey” pg. 76. “In general, groundwater levels at the coastal monitoring wells were the highest they have been since most of the wells were installed around 1984. As a result, the above wells represent the fewest number with groundwater levels below protective elevations. Lowering
groundwater levels to levels from just a few years ago would increase risk of seawater intrusion along more of the coast.” This study is 2 years old and is only one data point. Another study should be done to update the information so that we have a clear picture of the current state of the aquifers given the increased growth in the district. ••• Of those ratepayers survey surveyed, 61 percent filtered their tap water for drinking, 16 percent drink bottled water, and 16 percent drink unfiltered water straight from the tap. What does that tell you about drinking water quality in the Soquel Creek Water District?
Bruce Daniels: These statistics say something about the District’s educational outreach, but they say nothing about the actual quality of the water. Our District strictly meets the highest water quality standards by the State and Federal Environmental Protection Agencies. “SqCWD Q&A” page 23
Maria Marsilio: This is a small sample of given the number of households in the district. Thus, this may or may not be representative of the general opinion of the
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / October 15th 2020 / 21
