2017 May PASO Magazine

J U M PI N ' J E H O S O P H A T
W E H A D A L O T O F R AI N!
B y C h u c k D e s m o n d
Part 2 of 2
I’ m writi ng t his, t he rest of my story,
it’s no w t he mi d dle of A pril. Si nce t his
article was irst writte n i n Marc h, it
has co nti n ue d to rai n. I n t he A pril iss ue,
t he irst part of t he story re porte d t hat
rai nfall le vels as re porte d by t he ‘ga ng
of a do ze n at Pio neer M use u m’ was u p
to 4 2" at a ho me-ga uge. hat has no w
rise n to 4 7" at t he Morro Gap.
Pas o gets its water fr o m t hree
places a n d it all starts wit h rai n.
N o ne of o ur water c o mes fr o m t he
Sierras. T w o of t he t hree places are
he Sali nas a n d La ke Naci mie nt o
w hic h be ne it directl y fr o m rai n t o
pr ovi de “s urface water.”
he t hir d s o urce is t he a q uifer
k n o w n as he Paso Robles Gro u n d
Water B asi n. he Basi n c o ul d yiel d
m uc h m ore t ha n half of t he cit y's
water nee ds.
L et's l o o k at s o urce # 1 – he
Sali nas River. It is o ne of o nl y 3 0
rivers i n A merica t hat l o ws t o war d
t he N ort h. We ca n n ot ca pt ure a n d
kee p t hat water by b uil di n g a n ot h -
er da m or reser v oir a n d h o g it all
t o o urselves. It is ma n date d by t he
State t o kee p t he river l o wi n g as
it ills a q uifers al o n g its n ort herl y
pat h. It als o acts as a gate t o kee p
ocea n water (a n d its salt) fr o m
c o mi n g i nla n d. I n 1 9 4 1, t he cit y of
Pas o was gra nte d t he ri g ht t o divert
a n d dra w u p t o 4, 6 0 0 acre-feet of
water fr o m t he river eac h year. his
is s urface water rat her t ha n river
ille d a q uifers.
As y o u've drive n by places w here
y o u act uall y see t he river l o wi n g
a b ove gr o u n d, it's o bvi o us t hat
t here is e n o u g h de bris fr o m falle n
trees a n d w hatever else t o ca use o ne
t o t hi n k t hat t his S u m mer w o ul d
be a n excelle nt ti me t o “clea n it
o ut.” B ut it's n ot t hat si m ple. he
De part me nt of Fis h a n d Ga me
f or bi ds a ny lar ge mac hi ner y fr o m
bei n g ta ke n i nt o or bei n g use d i n
t he river be d. hat c o ul d c ha n ge
h o w M ot her Nat ure ta kes care of
herself. H o wever, Pas o re g ularl y
c o ntracts wit h Calif or nia C o nservati
o n C or ps ( C C C) t o clea n o ut
cr u d t hat t he river passes al o n g i n
its tri p n ort h as well as t he ma n-i n-
d uce d de bris li ke tras h t hr o w n fr o m
ve hicles or h o meless e nca m p me nts,
etc. here are strict g ui deli nes a n d
trai ni n g sessi o ns bef ore w or k cre ws
are per mitte d t o start. he cre ws
have t o wal k i n t o d o t heir w or k.
hey are per mitte d t o use c hai n
sa ws as ha n d-carrie d t o ols.
S o urce # 2 is he La ke. It's f ull
n o w. Hist oricall y, t his is a ver y re -
lia ble s o urce of water. W he n y o u
drive o ut t o l o o k at it a n d see t he
s pill way s pe wi n g water li ke it'll
never e n d, y o u mi g ht t hi n k, “ W hy
i n t he w orl d d o n't we ca pt ure
m ore of t he s pill way's water a n d
save it?” I n practical ter ms, we o b-
vi o usl y ca n't over- ill t he hei g ht
of t he da m. Als o, all t he water i n
Naci mie nt o bel o n gs t o M o nterey
C o u nt y – E X C E P T f or 1 7, 5 0 0 acre
feet w hic h bel o n gs t o S L O C o u n-
ty eac h year. M ost of it is delivere d
t o t he l ocal c o m m u nities via t he
rece ntly c o nstr ucte d Naci mie nt o
Pi peli ne Pr oject. Pas o has t he ri g ht
t o 6, 4 8 8 acre-feet of t hat water. To
be bl u nt, M o nterey C o u nty c o ul d
drai n La ke Naci mie nt o u ntil t hey
reac h a n elevati o n de pt h-level of
6 8 7 feet w hic h is t he mi ni m u m
p o ol-level. he n t hey w o ul d have t o
st o p. At t hat elevati o n, t he reser v oir
w o ul d h ol d 2 2, 3 0 0 acre feet of water.
Raisi n g t he hei g ht of t he da m w o ul d
n ot hel p Pas o or ot her pi peli ne par -
tici pa nts o ne i ota. We w o ul d still
o nly get t h ose sa me acre-feet a n d a
hi g her da m c o ul d wi pe o ut h o mes
al o n g t he la ke's s h ores.
Water st ora ge is i nteresti n g u nt o
itself. he massive ta n ks at G ol de n
Hill a n d t he far-less-visi ble 2 1st
street reser v oir h ol d, bet wee n t he
t w o of t he m, 1 2 milli o n gall o ns of
water a n d t hat w o ul d last Pas o f or
o nl y a b o ut 3 days d uri n g a s u per
e mer ge nc y.
he Rec ycli n g- water pla nt. A h
yes, t hat place. he next p hase is
a “ p ur ple pi pe” (t h us “ D O N' T
D RI N K F R O M H E R E!”) distri -
b uti o n pr oject. W he n i nis he d by
t he e n d of 2 0 1 9, t he facilit y will
have t he ca pacit y t o treat a n d de -
liver 4. 9 milli o n gall o ns of rec ycle d
water - eac h day - f or irri gati o n i n
par ks a n d la n dsca pi n g. heref ore,
f or all t he irri gati o n bei n g d o ne
t o day wit h 'fres h water', t hat fres h
water will all be save d.
H o w ar e w e aft er all t hi s y e ar' s r ai n ?
W ell, t h at' s a c o m pli c at e d a n s w er.
H o w are we after all t his year's
rai n? Well, t hat's a c o m plicate d a n-
s wer. O ur cit y has n't ha d a ny s h orta
ges des pite state- wi de dr o u g ht
c o n diti o ns. As May or Steve Marti n
t ol d me, “ Wit h all t he rai n a fecti
n g trees a n d p o wer li nes, n o o ne
was h urt or kille d. P u blic utilities
li ke P G & E di d fa b ul o us w or k i n
kee pi n g us h u m mi n g j ust as fast as
t hey c o ul d. We ma na ge o ur water
extre mel y well as o ne of t he best
metr o p olises i n t he e ntire state.
H o wever, wit h t hat bei n g sai d, we
a bs ol utel y have t o pre pare f or t he
next dr o u g ht. It's j ust t he way Cali -
f or nia is wit h water. he ma n dat or y
a n d t he v ol u ntar y c o nser vati o n t hat
Pas o we nt t hr o u g h, t o o k us t o water
usa ge levels e q uivale nt t o o ur p o p u -
lati o n bac k i n 2 0 0 7. C o m m o n se nse
is t he a ns wer; ever y gall o n we d o n't
use t hat ca n stay i n t he gr o u n d
is a gall o n f or o ur f ut ure nee ds i n
dr o u g ht ti mes … we m ust stay i n
c o nser vati o n m o de.”
2 1 st Street c o nti n ues t o l o o d d ue
t o de bris l o wi n g fr o m hi g her u p.
Dic k Mc Ki nley, Direct or of
P u blic Wor ks, s hare d a c o u ple m ore
t h o u g hts. here is a n a n n ual o perati
o ns b u d get set asi de t o c o nti n u -
all y re pair p ot h oles a n d t here is a n
o n g oi n g l o n g-ter m pla n t o re pair
or re place t he w orst of o ur streets.
W he n t he c h urc hes a n d sc h o ols
al o n g Crest o n R oa d were a p pr ove d
a n d b uilt, Pas o was a m uc h s maller
t o w n wit h far less p o p ulati o n t ha n
we have t o day. W hile a n e ntire us -
a ge pla n f or Crest o n R oa d is devel -
o pi n g, t here still nee ds t o be re pairs
t hat i ncl u de p ot h oles (a n d m ore of
t he m beca use of t he rai n) a n d lar ger
da ma ge d secti o ns. Acr oss t he cit y's
streets, bi g ger pieces of pr o ble m-areas
will be ta ke n o ut a n d pr o perl y
re d o ne rat her t ha n merel y illi n g a
p ot h ole here a n d t here. hese lar g -
er secti o ns o n a ny i n divi d ual street
will be i nc or p orate d i n a way t hat
will let t he m re mai n as t he w h ole
street is re paire d.
As a last t h o u g ht, ma ny sa w t he
‘ 2 1st River’ a n d ot her st or m drai ns
t hat beca me t otall y pl u g ge d. It ha p-
pe ns ever y year a n d Pas o pays t he
price. Virt uall y all of t he de bris a n d
t he m o u ntai ns of sa n d a n d gravel
are “c o ntri b ute d” fr o m pr o perties
o utsi de cit y li mits. Gravit y w or ks.
W he n it rai ns, st u f u p hi g her l o ws
d o w n. Pas o's a n d S L O C o u nt y's
o icials have bee n, a n d c o nti n ue t o,
w or k t o get her s uc h t hat t he pr o per -
t y o w ners at hi g her elevati o ns gai n
c o ntr ol of t heir pr o perties t o kee p
t hat er osi o n a n d l o w fr o m was hi n g
i nt o t he Pas o water drai n syste m.
As I wr ote at t he be gi n ni n g, we
c o ul d “tal k water” n o n-st o p f or days
a n d wee ks; it is per ha ps t he m ost
i m p orta nt disc ussi o n we c o ul d
have a b o ut o ur cit y. his article
o nl y scratc hes t he s urface of c o n -
versati o ns. I h o pe t his s he ds s o me
li g ht o n t his iss ue. O ne t hi n g t hat's
g os pel - it’s n ot t o o earl y t o pray f or
rai n f or next seas o n!
1 2 P A S O M aga zi ne, M ay 2 0 17