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Full EIR for supplemental water project

By Mike Hodgson/Associate Editor

A full environmental impact report on a pipeline to bring supplemental water from Santa Maria to the Nipomo Mesa will make it clear the proposed project won’t be a green light for rampant development to begin.

In unanimous votes June 25, Nipomo Community Services District directors authorized preparing the report and circulating an initial environmental study to various agencies and individuals for review to determine the scope of the EIR.

The board also directed the district manager to negotiate agreements with Boyle Engineering to design the project and a peer review group to evaluate every step of the design.

District manager Bruce Buel said both the California Environmental Quality Act and the district’s guidelines require a full EIR on the project.

But board members also see it as a way to head off any legal challenges by predetermining and dealing with the pipeline’s potential to induce growth and its potential impact on the Santa Maria management area of the groundwater basin.

Board President Mike Winn said he wants the EIR to clearly state the purpose of the project’s three phases to show it will not remove any impediments to growth imposed by the current water supply.

“I want it to say that so a lot of people don’t get stars in their eyes and say, ‘Oh, good, we can start building like mad all over the Mesa,’” Winn said.

He noted the San Luis Obispo County staff repeatedly interprets the pipeline project as a means to provide water for growth, and he wants to make sure the public understands that is not the case.

“Unfortunately, the county is deaf in both ears and can’t read lips,” said Director Larry Vierheilig.

The first phase of the pipeline project, at an estimated cost of $24 million, will bring 2,000 acre-feet of water to the district each year to serve existing customers and prevent overdraft of the groundwater basin.

“The $24 million project is simply to get us back to zero,” Winn said. “It’s making up for past sins.”

The second phase will add up to 1,000 acre-feet per year, half of which will go into the groundwater basin, with the remaining half allocated to vacant properties within the district, said Douglas Wood of Douglas Wood & Associates, which prepared the initial study.

The third phase would bring capacity up to 6,200 acre-feet per year, which would be allocated to properties in its sphere of influence — land not inside district boundaries but which could be annexed in the future.

“That’s where you start to get on that fence of whether it’s growth-inducing,” Wood said of phase 3.

But Director Ed Eby said he doesn’t believe the board will ever authorize the third phase. However, including it in the EIR will avoid having to conduct another environmental study if it is built.

“The EIR is just a disclosure document,” he said. “It doesn’t say we will build the project. What we build is up to the board.”

The current budget for Boyle Engineering to design the pipeline is $920,030, up from the previous $898,801 partly because it will consider replacing 200 individual pressure reduction valves with as few as two on carrier lines.

It also includes having Boyle negotiate a water purchase contract with Santa Maria, which was authorized in a previous contract and will be paid for by carryover funds from that contract.

Buel said the peer review committee will be paid separately at an estimated cost of $15,000.

“How much can we expect this to cost in the end?” Director Jim Harrison asked after reviewing other associated work specifically excluded from the design contract.

Buel responded, “You’ll end up spending right around $1 million, which is what you’d expect from a project this size.”

He said the final design agreement should be ready for the board to consider at its July 9 meeting.

mhodgson@theadobepress.com