Report: Continued drought could increase water contaminants

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. -
The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services released a drought impact report that shows continued drought could increase levels of contaminants in the water supply.

According to the report, if the drought continues it could raise levels arsenic and nitrates in the water.

If the containment levels reach unsafe levels, some residents could have to rely on bottled water, similar to what has been happening in San Juan Bautista.

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For now, the report is cautionary. The drought has not caused any communities in Monterey County to rely on bottled water.

Office of Emergency Services manager Sherrie Collins said people who have their own wells or water systems are the biggest concern.

"So the larger water systems that the city of Salinas residents use or communities out on the peninsula, those are not the ones we're worried about. These are small, private systems that are at risk for those kind of contaminants," Collins said.

The report also shows a serious financial blow to the county's Parks Department.

The report anticipates all boat launches at Lake San Antonio will remain closed through the summer.

Furthermore, supervisors were forced to lay off more than a dozen park rangers last summer because of loss revenue at the parks. And with the water levels so low, the parks stay closed.

"They're down to 4 percent and that's impacting the county park operations, so it's closed right now. Certainly in that kind of lake level, there's no recreation going on," Collins said.

There are some bright spots in the report.

Despite a drop in the use of Salinas Valley groundwater, crop production in the county is up 45 percent. This increase in productivity and lower water use shows that agriculture companies are producing more with less water.

"We see this as a success because the agriculture industry has been an early adopter of technology relating to efficiency of water use as well as other conservation methods on the farm and this has in turn produced better yields and better crops as well as some of the new varieties being grown here locally," Monterey County Farm Bureau Executive Director Norm Groot said.

For people who live in Cachagua, there were concerns that their well would run dry, but now some say they have enough water to get by and are declining offers of help from the state.


http://m.ksbw.com/news/report-contin...nants/30958582


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