Oceano Will Sell Water to Two Neighboring Cities As Needed

Aug. 26–Oceano could soon be selling some of its drinking water to neighboring Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach.

The Oceano Community Services District board agreed Wednesday to sell some of its water to the two cities on an as-needed basis for the next four years.

Under the deal’s terms, the district will provide up to 100 acre-feet of water to each city per year from its annual 303-acre-foot share of Lopez Lake water.

An acre-foot — 325,900 gallons — can serve about two or three homes a year, on average.

“Our approach is that it’s a safety net,” Grover Beach City Manager Ron Anderson said. “There’s a higher probability that we will use it in the future” if the city doesn’t find other water sources.

The district will sell the water at the same price it pays to the county. The current rate is $736 per acre-foot, but that’s expected to soar to nearly $1,500 by 2008, the final year of the deal.

Oceano is in a position to sell the water because, unlike the other two communities, it buys extra water from the state. Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande depend on Lopez Lake and groundwater.

Mitch Cooney, general manager of the Oceano District, said his agency will rely more on groundwater and state water to make up for selling some water to its neighbors.

He added that demand for water in Oceano is not expected to outpace supply until at least 2022.

Arroyo Grande City Manager Steve Adams said his city might not buy any water during the deal’s four-year term.

“Our projections show that we should be OK, but it’s fairly close,” he said. “This agreement is helpful because it gives us a little buffer.”

Anderson said that if Grover Beach were to buy water from Oceano it would probably happen in the latter half of the four-year period.

He added that Grover Beach also would buy Oceano water if tiered water rates — where the cost goes up as homes use more water — don’t lead to conservation.

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