The Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) in Cambria is a step closer to being in use once again, following the approval of the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission.
Water is something many residents in Cambria have had in mind even before moving to the area.
“We moved from the Bay Area and my dad called me and said don't move there they have water troubles,” said Kelley Rogers, Cambria resident. “Since we’ve came here I’ve met a lot of longtime residents and they’re like if you just conserve and do your part which I do.”
Other residents, like Jer Houston, who’s lived there for 20 years, have seen what it can be like during droughts.
“Caps on usage and if you get over that cap you start paying fines and things like that but I’ve never had that problem of going over because we’re real thrifty with water,” Houston said.
Now, the SLO Planning Commission has unanimously approved the Cambria Commuity Services District’s (CCSD) Coastal Development Permit more than a decade since the process first started.
CCSD Utility Director James Green and General Manager Matthew McElhine told KSBY the facility was built to address aquaphor levels during the dry seasons.
“We’ll start to see that aquaphor level drop and that’s where you’ll hit that brackish water where it’s more salty than it is freshwater and so this plant is able to pull deep within the aquaphor, treat it, process it, and then reinfect it back upstream,” McElhine said.
McElhine said the new permit would allow the facility to operate as the dry season approaches instead of only operating during a severe stage 5 or 6 drought.
Now, the process enters an appeal window which could be taken to the Board of Supervisors and then to the California Coastal Commission.
He added this can be expected as some of the concerns people have is it’s environmental impact and proximity to the San Simeon Creek.
They say they have different studies to address that.
“During operation we have our adaptive management plan which measures and looks at all the impacts or potential impacts that occur while we’re operating so that way we can make adjustments to processing,” Green said.
The operation of the facility won’t add charges to resident's bills since they already pay a bi-monthly surcharge of $42.
The CCSD expects this proccess to be complete within a year.
