Frequently Asked Questions of this District and me

By Peggy Ruse

Lots of our neighbors in our community are asking good questions. Here are some of the important questions and my answers.

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO IMPLEMENT YOUR PRIORITIES?
1. Alternate, complementary water sources to our current ground water such as increased use of stream water and exploring development of a small, safe natural resevoir.

2.New producing wells by the end of 2006 with a serious look and action towards ending safely with a phases-in approach to the decades-old water connection moratorium.
3.Increase quality (low quality with nitrates) and decrease expense of water (we pay dearly for the water under airport) with serious plans in the next 2 years to move away from dependence on the "airport wells" with the full production of the new Alta Vista Well
4. Aggresively pursue public input and open dialogue

WHAT IS ONE SPECIFIC ITEM THAT YOU WOULD PUSH FOR AS A NEW BOARD MEMBER? Make the number one priority increasing the water supply and quality from a variety of sources with the intended result of a reliable and cost effective water system that includes new water sources and supply, adequate water storage leading to fire safety, end to the water connection moratorium, and hopefully lower costs and lower water rates.

ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO GET MORE WATER INTO OUR SYSTEM ASIDE FROM SEARCHING FOR MORE GROUNDWATER WELL SOURCES? Absolutely! I believe we have opportunities in our own "backyard" with distribution of current stream water and water during the winter months coming off the hills around us. In addition, I believe we have opportunities to bring in water from the pristine Hetch Hetchy water system in a number of novel ways hooking up to the new pipeline in the Devil's slide tunnel as well as building a pipeline connecting from the south in our district to the planned pipeline in the tunnel. Working with water district neighbors to the north, south and east must be seriously investigated. Moreover, a water pipeline from the north with water supplied from North Coast Water will be included in the tunnel for fire suppression reasons and it is imperative that we be part of this opportunity to have more water in our district for fire safety and additional water sources in time of drought or major problems with our district wells such as contamination etc. In addition, repairing and building up our water system infrastructure is imperative for a safe, reliable water system that will be in time worthy of consolidation with our neighbor water districts.

DID WE PAY TOO MUCH FOR OUR WATER SYSTEM? I voted for Measure V and I believe that local control of our water district is in our best interests. However, if our money is mostly used to patch up some of the pipes rather than replacing and improving water transmission lines , to temporarily clean up some of the expensive "airport" water wells rather than prioritizing actions that moves us safely off of these wells, and drill "test wells" that MAY become producting wells very little will have changed and we will be deeper in debt and water problems. We paid too much if in yet another 4 years (we are in our third year of owning the water district) we still don't have more water, we still have "sky-high" rates, chronic water rationing, fire protection issues due to lack of water, inadequate water storage, marginalized and disenfranchised well owners (who pay for the water district bond but do not receive the water services) and we still have poor quality and taste of water. In addition, if we use our district monies to fund any aspect of a desalination plant in our district, we have wasted our money, time and energy.

DO WE HAVE FIRE SAFETY? This seems to be debatable. However, we know that the water pressure and flow is insufficient especially if there is a catastrophic event like many fires and/or an earthquake. We also know that the water transmission pipelines are in need of replacement and improvement. I understand that the water pressure is particularly of concern on the west side of Moss Beach.

WHAT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WATER? Safe water and poor quality and taste of water is of great concern to neighbors in our community. Many water district customers purchase bottled water or filter the water in our district which adds to the water expense. Moss Beach water mostly comes from the airport well aquifer, which has a high copper content and nitrates. The airport has underground gas tanks and there is agriculture across from the airport. It is my understanding that water quality continues to be poor even with the costly recent expense of equipment to "clean-up" the water coming from the airport wells.The water quality is much better from the wells in the Montara area and possibly the small amount of stream water captured during certain months during the year also in the Montara area. We need to have more of this type of water for Moss Beach. I'm not in favor of throwing "good money at a bad project".

I HEAR THE HETCH-HETCHY WATER SYSTEM IS "OVERSUBSCRIBED" AND ALSO HAS OLD LEAKY PIPES AND IT WILL COST BILLIONS TO RENOVATE IT AND TOO EXPENSIVE FOR OUR DISTRICT TO BE PART OF THIS SYSTEM. PLEASE COMMENT.

Yes, this water system has issues too . Some of the current districts that use this water do not use all of their allotment while others use more than their allotment. Check the newspapers regularly about the water in this system and you will find that they have plenty of water and are not chronically rationed as we are. Yes, this will not be easy and it will cost money; however, we currently have some of the highest water rates in California and possibly our country. We need to begin to look at this possibility now. Not doing something because it is difficult is not a wise philosophy. The North Coast Water District may have extra water that we could use as they are planning to possibly use recycled water on their public golf course. Looking into and implementing ways to use recycled water safely in our community should be a priority. This could release up water from the Hetch Hetchy system for other uses. The new Devil's Slide Tunnel project is another opportunity for us to get additional water supply and storage into our water district What is your short-term plan for more water? We need more water supply now. A good quality, reliable water system will solve many of the other water problems in our district. If elected, I will prioritize the increase of water supply and sources. Test wells must be converted to producing wells quickly and the permit process begun immediately and with forethought. Test wells are NOT PRODUCING WELLS and pictures of water coming out of test wells does not mean we have more water in our system. In addition, we must find ways to capture and use more stream water in our area and , possibly from Denniston Creek or other areas of stream water that flow down the hills and mountains toward our district. The experts that I have spoken with feel very positive about the possibility of distributing some of that water into our district to alleviate some of our chronic water problems.

WHAT ABOUT LOWERING COSTS? Our district pays a premium rate to use the water from the airport wells. The water in this airport aquifer is plentiful but of low quality and very expensive. We need eventually to move away from dependence on this aquifer. The sooner we are safely using other water sources and are no longer dependent on these airport wells the sooner we will begin to lower our costs. Our district should not use any more monies to fund or investigate building a desalination plant in our district.

DO THE INCUMBENTS HAVE A HIDDEN AGENDA? The League for Coastside Protection endorses the current incumbents.This organization has a reputation of being "no-growth" and a mind set of controlling growth through infrastructure. Our water/sanitary district board's job is to lead and direct and make decisions that lead to a quality, reliable, safe, and affordable Water and Sanitary District. No-Growth or "For-Growth" has no place on our non-partisan board and it is dangerous to have either philosophy as your guide. It creates blind-spots and stunts broad and fair thinking and decision-making and stifles open dialogue. We have the "perfect storm" because our community suffers from an unreliable water supply, chronic water rationing, high water rates and property taxes from the bond, and poor quality and taste of water along with a community that includes well owners many of whom feel marginalized and disenfranchised. This chronic situation affects the quality and safety of our lives, and our property values. It is unconscionable for any member of this board or future boards to use our water district or its serious issues to further a "hidden agenda". Growth or no growth, developer or environmentalist etc is not at issue here.