Nacimiento Water Project Pipeline is closer to reality
Tuesday December 25th, 2007 - 10:21:41 am
Dan Reddell Email
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007
Posted on Tue, Dec. 25, 2007
Top local stories of 2007: No. 9: Pipeline is closer to reality
Sally Connell
The Nacimiento Water Project pipeline has been proposed in one form or another for 30 years, but county residents will only now see it starting, with roads torn up, piles of pipe collecting at remote locations, and heavy equipment moving in.
The 45-mile pipeline is planned to connect Nacimiento Lake in the North County to the San Luis Obispo water treatment plant. It will cost $178 million and provide drinking water to five municipalities. Bonds have been sold to finance its construction.
Water rates in the participating communities are also going up to pay for the project, expected to as much as double in the city of San Luis Obispo. Paso Robles is still trying to finalize the rate structure it will use to pay for their portion of the project.
The participating communities and amounts of water they will receive are: Paso Robles, 4,000 acre-feet; San Luis Obispo, 3,380; Atascadero Mutual Water Co., 2,000; and Templeton Community Services District, 250. Cayucos Service Area No. 10 is set to receive less than 250.
An acre-foot, water that covers an acre one foot deep, is enough water to serve two to three households for a year, depending on house size and amount of water needed for landscaping.
San Luis Obispo will pay 47 percent of the project cost because it is located the farthest from the North County lake.
“Right now, contractors are mobilizing,” said Tom Trott, project engineer. A construction trailer has appeared lake-side near the dam, and other trailers are being placed in more remote locations, he said.
Trott said that the most noticeable signs of construction in the next few months may be the “potholing” planned for some roads as contractors look for underground utilities they will need to avoid.
The pipeline does cross public and private land, but it will also be laid along the shoulder of such roads as Monterey, North River and South River roads in the Paso Robles area and El Camino Real south of Atascadero.
Monterey County built and manages Nacimiento Lake, even though it is inside San Luis Obispo County. The agreement then allowed San Luis Obispo County to take 15,775 acre-feet of water from the lake annually for drinking water.
The Nacimiento Water Project will be the first time the North County lake has been tapped by San Luis Obispo County municipalities for drinking water, even though projects have been proposed and negotiations have broken down through the past decades.
There is a pending petition effort in San Luis Obispo to overturn that city’s water rate increases, but it has not gained much momentum to date. Because the city has signed onto the agreement, it would have to find the funds for its share from another source if rate increases are rejected by voters, city officials report.
Paso Robles officials have yet to give final approval to a consumption-based rate that was approved after citizens protested a flat fee increase. The city has asked a consultant to assess the proposed usage based plan.

© 2007 San Luis Obispo Tribune and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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