To: Amanda Rice, President Cambria Community Services District, Cambria Community Services District, Board of Directors and General Manager, Bruce Gibson, County Board of Supervisors District 2, Airlin Singewald, County Sr. Planner, and Ted ...
Cambria Community Services District: CEASE and DESIST!
Ratepayers support the Regional Water Quality Control Board's cease and desist action and support their efforts to stop the Cambria CSD's rushed water project from causing serious harm to our local creeks and the wildlife that relies on this special habitat. We request that the Cambria CSD mitigate the full impacts of operating this project in a valid “emergency” situation, for existing customers only, which has never been done. If the Cambria District adds new water connections to our overstressed aquifers and the project actually had to provide water in the dry season, it would most likely dewater and pollute San Simeon Creek and place severe stress on Santa Rosa Creek.
San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks and wildlife must be protected.
San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks and wildlife must be protected.
Why is this important?
Cambria Community Services District:
CEASE and DESIST!
The Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued more Notices of Violation to the Cambria Community Services District due to failures stemming from their rushed water project. In 2014 the Cambria Community Services District deceived ratepayers and claimed an emergency brackish water project would be temporary and portable, for existing customers only, costing between $100,000 to $4 million and would deliver water by July 1, 2014. The project construction was to be completed by November of 2014 and to run only during a Stage 3 water shortage declared by CCSD.
None of these claims proved to be true.
The district FAILED
- to analyze less expensive alternatives to this project
- to provide water by July of 2014
- to design/construct an affordable, temporary project to abate an emergency
- to complete construction of the project
- to analyze disposal of brine waste
- to complete the application for a Coastal Development Permit for the emergency project
- to complete an environmental impact report for three years
- to respond to three years of comments submitted by regulatory agencies and citizens
- to hold project contractor responsible for obvious hydrogeologic and design flaws
- to comply with Water Board discharge regulations and monitoring requirements
- to comply with County ordinances
- to adequately respond to neighbor complaints regarding noise and brine overspray
- to offset the $9 million loan by applying a $4 million grant as promised
- to provide competent operators to run the emergency project
Failing so much, the Cambria Community Services District must be held accountable.
In March of 2016 the CSD changed the purpose and intent of this emergency project (renamed it the Sustainable Water Project) to support new water meter connections in Cambria without voter approval. The CSD submitted an application for this growth inducing project in 2017, which describes new water treatment construction options and brine disposal methods without analyzing the costs and impacts of these modifications. The project has not been subjected to the level of review required for a long term public works project that guarantees growth.
Ratepayers did not vote for a public works project for growth.
The project has already committed us to years of ratepayer debt while our infrastructure fails. Total cost of the “emergency” project and the “sustainable” project is unknown because the district continues to make decisions behind closed doors to revise and correct the current “emergency” water project and to amend contracts to expand their scope.
We, the ratepayers of Cambria and others, oppose this deception and abuse of power.
No new project for growth should be approved until long overdue habitat protection programs are fully funded and implemented by qualified and independent agents including:
- Instream flow studies for both San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks
- Water Quality Monitoring programs to protect iconic species
- Build Out Reduction program to mitigate growth
- Cambria Forest Management Plan and Forest Ecologist hired to protect Monterey Pines
- Habitat Conservation Plans to protect our local creeks for the future
The Regional Water Quality Control Board is preparing a cease and desist order (attached) and an administrative civil liability complaint against Cambria CSD for multiple violations of their permits.
San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks and wildlife must be protected.
CEASE and DESIST!
The Regional Water Quality Control Board has issued more Notices of Violation to the Cambria Community Services District due to failures stemming from their rushed water project. In 2014 the Cambria Community Services District deceived ratepayers and claimed an emergency brackish water project would be temporary and portable, for existing customers only, costing between $100,000 to $4 million and would deliver water by July 1, 2014. The project construction was to be completed by November of 2014 and to run only during a Stage 3 water shortage declared by CCSD.
None of these claims proved to be true.
The district FAILED
- to analyze less expensive alternatives to this project
- to provide water by July of 2014
- to design/construct an affordable, temporary project to abate an emergency
- to complete construction of the project
- to analyze disposal of brine waste
- to complete the application for a Coastal Development Permit for the emergency project
- to complete an environmental impact report for three years
- to respond to three years of comments submitted by regulatory agencies and citizens
- to hold project contractor responsible for obvious hydrogeologic and design flaws
- to comply with Water Board discharge regulations and monitoring requirements
- to comply with County ordinances
- to adequately respond to neighbor complaints regarding noise and brine overspray
- to offset the $9 million loan by applying a $4 million grant as promised
- to provide competent operators to run the emergency project
Failing so much, the Cambria Community Services District must be held accountable.
In March of 2016 the CSD changed the purpose and intent of this emergency project (renamed it the Sustainable Water Project) to support new water meter connections in Cambria without voter approval. The CSD submitted an application for this growth inducing project in 2017, which describes new water treatment construction options and brine disposal methods without analyzing the costs and impacts of these modifications. The project has not been subjected to the level of review required for a long term public works project that guarantees growth.
Ratepayers did not vote for a public works project for growth.
The project has already committed us to years of ratepayer debt while our infrastructure fails. Total cost of the “emergency” project and the “sustainable” project is unknown because the district continues to make decisions behind closed doors to revise and correct the current “emergency” water project and to amend contracts to expand their scope.
We, the ratepayers of Cambria and others, oppose this deception and abuse of power.
No new project for growth should be approved until long overdue habitat protection programs are fully funded and implemented by qualified and independent agents including:
- Instream flow studies for both San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks
- Water Quality Monitoring programs to protect iconic species
- Build Out Reduction program to mitigate growth
- Cambria Forest Management Plan and Forest Ecologist hired to protect Monterey Pines
- Habitat Conservation Plans to protect our local creeks for the future
The Regional Water Quality Control Board is preparing a cease and desist order (attached) and an administrative civil liability complaint against Cambria CSD for multiple violations of their permits.
San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks and wildlife must be protected.