Earlier this year, the Cambria Community Services District received coastal development permit approval to operate the water reclamation facility for 24 hours per day, five days a week for seven months out of the year.
During the appeal period, six were filed, citing concerns on the projects adequacy, cost, and the environment surrounding it.
Local nonprofit Greenspace Cambria was one of the appellants. The executive director tells KSBY their concerns are purely environmental.
“We just planted eight thousand trees in that area where the brine pond," said Karin Argano. "That brine pond for years has been a problem we request that it is returned to its natural state.”
Argano told KSBY that monitoring the area is essential.
“We’re bringing back a lot of birds and wildlife there was a tremendous amount of bird mortality there at one time and we just don’t want so see that happen again,” Argano said.
A CCSD biologist says monitoring would be done monthly during the facility’s first year of operation.
Another appeal cited concerns with brine water going to South County Sanitation and the cost it would bear.
“We do have an estimate of what it would cost to truck per day and that’s about $2,600 so really depends on the operation of the length of operations so those costs can vary,” said Matthew McElhenie, CCSD general manager.
After hearing from the majority of the people appealing, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors decided to deny the appeal and uphold the approval, with a modification to forward the monitoring reports to the county.
“Our ability to see it through working with county planning staff and Supervisor Gibson has been a huge help and it’s probably one of the most monumental accomplishments our district has achieved in quite a while,” McElhenie said.
He added that for the next 30 days the Coastal Commission can appeal which he says is expected.
The project’s cost for residents will remain unchanged, since they’re already paying a $42 bi-monthly charge.
