MWSD’s new well helps address its water deficit

Montara Water and Sanitary District’s newest well may produce enough water to make up for the District’s deficit of 150 to 180 gallons per minute, according to the County Times.  The deficit is the gap between the district’s current production and the peak and emergency needs of its existing customers. By law, until the district covers its deficit, it cannot serve people who are on wells. But the new well is an important step in that direction.

District board member Kathryn Slater-Carter said that all new homes in the area would be required to switch over to public water as soon as it became available to them.

She said she hoped that would happen soon, but she wasn’t optimistic — the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, which oversees the unincorporated area’s Local Coastal Plan, had already decided to give affordable housing projects, flower farms and recreation areas first crack at the water. She said that the board of directors was appealing the decision.

According to MWSD president Scott Boyd, MWSD is asking the supervisors to include failed wells as a priority in the LCP update.

Scott says, "The numbers for the actual deficit vary a lot during the course of the year and the course of the week.  The numbers in the article are considerably lower than the numbers we’ve been working with, more like 200-240.  And that’s not so simple because any time a well fails or has to be taken offline for any reason, we have to deal with quantum jumps in the deficit, so scheduling of repairs requires careful planning."

MWSD reported the new well to the community in its spring newsletter.