Morro Bay Water Reclamation Facility Project:  Issues, Concerns, and Solutions


Morro Bay Drinking Water and the WRF Project


Morro Bay’s drinking water supply is unreliable.  There are problems with all three sources: State water, municipal wells, and the desalination plant.

The WRF project has the potential to help alleviate supply problems.  A City consultant recently stated that the best use of the reclaimed water from the new WRF would  be injection into the Morro Basin aquifer.  This process  would recharge the aquifer, dilute nitrates that residents believe are from leaking sewage,  and would help prevent salt water intrusion.

 Following are discussions of the issues associated with the current water supply.



State Water


The City gets up to 90% of its drinking water from the State Water Project, which cannot be depended upon to supply all of the City’s needs.  Drought and infrastructure problems have resulted in cutbacks and service interruptions.   

The unreliability of State water means that:

Problems with State Water Program infrastructure have been documented by State Water Contractors (SWC),  a non-profit association of public agencies that purchase water, under contract, from the California State Water Project.  

State Water supplies are limited, and can be cut back with notice.  Cutbacks can be substantial.    In late 2009, the City was advised that drought conditions might mandate reduction of the City’s 2010 water allocation to just 5% of the amount that had been anticipated.  However, drought is only part of the reason that Morro Bay’s dependence on State water is a concern.  

The condition and reliability of the State Water Project’s water delivery infrastructure also threaten the reliability of water deliveries from the agency.  The infrastructure is old, and is vulnerable to earthquakes and to equipment failures.  Interruptions in deliveries from this water source have already occurred.


Infrastructure Vulnerable to Earthquakes

According to the SWC Web site, “The U.S. Geological Survey has warned of a 63 percent probability that a 6.7 magnitude or larger earthquake will hit in the next 30 years. An earthquake of that size has the power to not only devastate local communities, but wipe out a significant portion of the state’s water supply for more than a year.” and, “The water supply for 25 million people, businesses and farms is channeled by old and fragile levees built 100 years ago. A major earthquake in Northern California could trigger levees to break throughout the Delta, allowing saltwater to rush in from the San Francisco Bay contaminating a significant portion of our freshwater supply.”    

Such an event in the Delta would impact Morro Bay, because its  State water deliveries are received through the Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA).  The CCWA’s 2011 Urban Water Management Plan  includes this description of  the State Water Project’s water delivery system:   “The keystone of the SWP is Lake Oroville, which conserves water from the Feather River watershed. It is the SWP’s largest storage facility with a capacity of about 3.5 million acre feet (maf). Releases from Lake Oroville flow down the Feather River into the Sacramento River, which drains the northern portion of California’s Central Valley. The Sacramento River flows into the Delta, comprised of 738,000 acres of land interlaced with channels that receive runoff from about 40% of the state’s land area. The SWP and the Central Valley Project (CVP) rely on Delta channels as a conduit to move water from the Sacramento River inflow to the points of diversion in the south Delta.

Thus, the Delta is actually part of the SWP conveyance system, making the Delta a key component in SWP deliveries. The significance of the Delta to SWP deliveries is described in more detail below.

From the northern Delta, Barker Slough Pumping Plant diverts water for delivery to Napa and Solano counties through the North Bay Aqueduct. Near Byron in the southern Delta, the SWP diverts water into Clifton Court Forebay for delivery south of the Delta. Banks pumping plant lifts water from Clifton Court Forebay into the California Aqueduct, which channels the water to Bethany Reservoir. The water delivered to Bethany Reservoir from Banks Pumping Plant is either delivered into the South Bay Aqueduct for use in the San Francisco Bay Area or continues down the California Aqueduct to O’Neil Forebay, Gianelli Pumping-Generating Plant, and San Luis Reservoir.”


Infrastructure Condition Issues

There are more State Water Project infrastructure issues that could impact Morro Bay’s  water supply.  A January, 2011 California State Water Project notice to State Water Project contractors    stated, “Due to continuing issues with the recruitment and retention of sufficient skilled trades and crafts personnel, aging equipment, and unexpected equipment failures, DWR was not able to export over 100,000 acre-feet of additional water that was available for export since December.  This has caused a delay in the filling of the San Luis Reservoir and will impact overall allocation of water in 2011.”

A State Water Project equipment failure nearly left Morro Bay residents without a supply of clean, safe drinking water during the 2011 Labor Day weekend.  The story was reported in a September, 2011 Bay News article by Neil Farrel.   The article, “Water Crisis Averted”, said,

“State Water Project officials averted a potentially serious water supply problem when its system unexpectedly went down due to mechanical failures in some of its massive pumps.

Meanwhile, in an eerily similar set of occurrences, Morro Bay officials averted a potential local water shortage, after part of its back up water system proved unprepared.  Combined, they could have made for a water shortage in the middle of Labor Day Weekend.”

Municipal Wells


Although they once supplied all of the City’s drinking water, municipal wells can no longer meet the City’s water needs.  Water quality problems caused by sewage contamination prevent usage of some of the wells. Well use is restricted by State Water Quality Control Board in order to prevent excessive depletion of the aquifers.

Morro Bay has municipal wells located within the City limits, near Lila Kaiser Park, and outside City limits, in the Chorro Valley.  At one time, the wells provided all of the City’s drinking water.  In 1997, the City decided to contract with the State Water Project for the bulk of the City’s water supply.  Since that time, the wells have been little used, except during the annual November State Water Project maintenance shutdown.

While the wells are not often used, they are essential to ensuring that Morro Bay residents have a reliable water supply.  State water is unreliable, and desalinated water is expensive to produce.


Morro Basin Wells

The City’s Morro Basin well field, located near Lila Kaiser Park, consists of wells 3, 4, 14 and 15.  The wells draw water from the Morro Basin aquifer.  All are contaminated with nitrates, and the water cannot be used unless it is cleaned using the brackish water reverse osmosis (BRWO) equipment in the desalination/water treatment plant.  This treatment is expensive and raises the cost of producing drinking water for residents.  The wells are subject to pumping limits imposed by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)

City staff and Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board staff have long claimed that the nitrates come from fertilizer used in agricultural operations in the Morro Valley. Resident research indicates that the nitrates come from sewage that is leaking from the City’s dilapidated sewage collection system.  Testing of the well water, done in late 2014, has proven  that sewage is present.  


Chorro Basin Wells

The City of Morro Bay also has drinking water wells in the Chorro Valley, but only one of them can be used at present.   The Chorro Basin wells, located outside City limits and in the Chorro Valley, consist of well 11A, located in the Romero Well Field near the end of Canet Road, and wells 9, 10, 10A and 16, located in the Ashurst Well Field near the end of Chorro Creek Road.  This well field formerly included another well, referred to as 9A.  That well has been converted to private use.  

The  Ashurst wells were placed in inactive status in 2008, by the CDPH.  The CDPH took this action after it was discovered that at times, the City had been delivering potentially-harmful, insufficiently-treated Ashurst well water to a group of water customers.  

In a December 2, 2008 letter to Morro Bay’s then – Public Services Director Bruce Ambo, CDPH official Kurt Souza stated,

“The Department is requiring the City to cease the use of the Ashurst wells 9, 9A,. 10, 10A and 16.  This letter serves as a notice to the City that the Department has changed the operational status of these wells to inactive.

To reactivate these wells, the City must submit an application, to the Department, for their use.  The application must include

A proposal for nitrate treatment for the Ashurst Wells.  The treatment (e.g. blending) must be provided before any customer connections.

Plans of the Distribution system piping.  The plans must clearly show service connections and the junction of water from Well 11A with water supplied from the Ashurst Wellfield.  The plans must also show the dedicated line to the Kings Tanks and service line returning from Kings Tanks to the east end of town.

A chlorination plan for the Ashurst Wells.  The plan shall describe how all Ashurst Wells are chlorinated prior to delivery to customers.”

 


Desalination Plant


The City of Morro Bay desalination plant, also referred to as the water treatment plant,  is used to treat seawater from offshore wells near the Embarcadero and groundwater from the City’s Morro Basin well field. Treated water is delivered to the City’s drinking water distribution system.  

Use of the desalination plant is limited by plant capacity, permit restrictions, and cost, and plant operation has been a source of concern to some Morro Bay residents.


Plant History

The  plant was constructed in 1992 during a drought emergency.  It was permitted as a “temporary emergency” facility. The plant was used for only a short time and then was shut down due to high operating costs.  The plant was seldom used until 2009, when it was expanded with the installation of the BWRO trains to remove nitrates from well water, and an energy recovery system to reduce operating costs.

The City received $600,000 in Proposition 84 grant funding to help pay for the plant expansion which, according to a County document, cost about $3 million. The grant was issued through the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).  

Upon completion of the upgrades, the plant was capable of treating seawater and well water simultaneously through separate processes.  The City relied heavily on the plant during the 2010 drought emergency when State Water Project deliveries were drastically cut.

According to the City’s 2010 Urban Water Master Plan, the plant’s BWRO system “acted as the primary water supply source for the City during the first 3 months of 2010 when SWP deliveries were at 5 percent.” And, “The City currently relies on the BWRO facility to manage peaking demands during SWP deliveries, and as the City’s main water supply source during SWP shutdowns and interruptions in deliveries.”


Permit Issues

For a number of years, the plant was not be properly permitted. The City failed to seek new permits as required when it resumed operation of the plant, expanded it, and increased the amount of brine discharge to the power plant outfall.

Although the capacity of the plant was substantially increased with the addition of the new BWRO equipment, there was no new environmental impact report (EIR).   The plant originally operated legally under  Coastal Development Permit  (CDP) 57-92, which was approved by the Morro Bay City Council on April 12, 1993, and which has expired.

The California Coastal Act requires a new CDP for new development. The desalination plant expansion project involved not only a major capacity increase through installation of the two new BWRO trains, but substantial up-sizing of the treated water delivery line, and an increase in the amount of brine discharged into the power plant outfall.  It appears that one or more new CDP’s may have been required, but that they were not obtained.

There may also be California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) issues associated with the plant’s discharges into the Morro Bay Power Plant outfall.   Because of the expansion of the plant capacity, and the resulting increase in brine when the plant is treating large quantities of water, a greater quantity of brine must be disposed of. It does not appear that the required environmental studies were done to determine the potential environmental impact of  the substantially-increased brine discharges.

In early 2017, the Coastal Commission issues a new permit, but it severely limits the City’s authority to use the plant.  Under the new permit, the plant may operate only in a water supply emergency.


Was the Desalination Plant Expansion the Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars?

Morro Bay City staff claim that the nitrates in City wells come from fertilizer. However, there is extensive evidence that the nitrates  come from leaking sewage, and that the money spent expanding the desalination plant would have been better spent fixing the sewer lines.  

Despite repeated requests from Morro Bay residents, the City has thus far declined to perform the kind of groundwater tests that the residents believe would definitively show whether sewage is, or is not the source of the Morro Basin well contamination.  Concerned residents argue that the money spent to upgrade the desalination plant to remove nitrates from well water, as well as the water treatment costs, were a misuse of taxpayer money that should have been spent to repair the defective sewer lines.