County Planners have responded to Estero Bay News’ questions regarding a study they’ve begun on possibly setting up an “in-lieu” payment system in Los Osos to satisfy County rules for water conservation.
Briana Medvecki, a planner with the County’s Long-Range Planning Division, who is leading the project responded to several questions EBN had posed to the County for a previous story that ran in the Oct. 22 edition.
Officially called the “Los Osos Title 19 Retrofit-to-Build Program Nexus Study,” the exercise is being conducted by a consultant hired by County Planning.
Maddaus Water Management, Medvecki said, is conducting what she referred to as a “desktop study” that is due to be completed sometime next February (2027).
“Maddaus Water Management,” she said, “has a robust history of working on water resource-related matters in the Los Osos Groundwater Basin.”
The County wants to see if it can substitute an in-lieu fee system to satisfy the water conservation requirements written into County Codes.
“The Los Osos Title 19 Retrofit-to-Build Program Nexus Study,” she said, “is an exploration of the potential of an effective alternative for property owners to meet the County Plumbing Code Title 19.07.042 water conservation requirements and to contribute towards the sustainable groundwater management efforts that lead to basin-wide benefits.”
The study will look at a proposed water intertie project the Community Services District is working on that would snake a pipe down South Bay Boulevard to connect with the Chorro Valley Pipeline (CVP) on the other side of Hwy 1. That pipeline delivers fully treated drinking water to Morro Bay from the State Water Project.
The LOCSD wants to connect to the CVP and bring some 200-acre feet a year of state water to Los Osos, fully treated and ready to drink. The water would come out of an unused entitlement of State Water Project allocation held by the County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (essentially County Supervisors) but not yet spoken for by SLO County cities and CSD’s with water systems.
The initial idea is to have that outside source of water to give the groundwater basin, which is Los Osos’ only source of water, a rest and chance to replenish with winter rains.
Through the Nexus Study, the County could put in an in-lieu system to offer some relief for property owners needing a water meter but having to find enough old fixtures — toilets, showerheads, etc. — to change out and satisfy the plumbing code.
“The Retrofit-to-Build Program,” Medvecki said, “requires all new development that will use water from the Los Osos Groundwater Basin to retrofit older plumbing fixtures in existing homes and businesses to save twice the amount of water the new development will use.”
This can be a daunting task, especially considering that as a condition of the County’s community sewer project, the County was forced by the Coastal Commission to ensure all toilets in town are of the low-flow variety, and new toilets were installed everywhere for that project to move forward. There likely aren’t many homes and businesses remaining without low-flow toilets and fixtures.
“Currently, new single-family homes are required to offset the demand of 256 gallons/day,” Medvecki said, “and new multifamily homes are required to offset the demand of 200-gallons/day.”
The County has a pretty good idea of how much water savings will be needed to allow the 0.4% (25 total homes) growth rate it set in a town that hasn’t had any growth to speak of for over 35 years.
“In 2023,” she said, “the water demand estimates for new homes and the remaining water savings potential pursuant to the Retrofit-to-Build Program were studied and updated.”
Hence the Nexus Study is needed to see if there is an alternative way to allow for even this small amount of growth.
“The current study,” she said, “will help determine if an in-lieu fee could support an equal or greater water resource benefit to the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, while creating an additional path for property owners to achieve their goals for the property.
“If there are adequate findings from the study of a nexus between the water resource benefits of the Retrofit-to-Build Program and one of the supplemental supply alternatives, an in-lieu fee could be proposed to support an equal or greater water resource benefit to the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, while creating an additional path for property owners to achieve their goals for the property and meet water conservation requirements.”
So far the only project that’s been endorsed for this study is the intertie pipeline project, though the LOCSD, Golden State Water and S&T Mutual — the three water purveyors in town — have a Basin Management Plan with lots of projects intended to combat seawater intrusion into the basin from over pumping.
Projects include more storage tanks and relocating wells farther east and away from the seawater intrusion zone by the public library, among others.
In a letter to the County the three water purveyors only supported the intertie pipeline project be studied at this time. The Nexus Study could go deeper.
“The study will evaluate supplemental supply alternatives that were identified in the Los Osos Community Services District’s Water Recycling Funding Program Facilities Planning Study,” Medvecki said.
Also yet to be determined is how much would a water retrofit in-lieu fee be and would it be cheaper to simply write a check or try to flush out the needed number of toilets and fixtures to change?
And the 0.4% growth rate set by County Supervisors might not even survive. Already there has been strong opposition to allow even that low growth rate, and any future changes will probably bring a strong response from activists in town. That showdown is on the near horizon.
“The Board of Supervisors,” Medvecki said, “will consider the growth rate for calendar year 2027 on Dec. 8.”
