Water solution sought in Tehama
Antelope area residents wary of paying for sewage hookups
Redding Record Searchlight - 6/20/03
By Kimberly Bolander, staff writer

RED BLUFF - They know their water is tainted with nitrate, residents who came to a public meeting said Thursday - and some wonder why they have to be the ones to solve the decades-long problem.

About 100 people attended the informational meeting at Berrendos School. Several wanted to know how their neighborhood was allowed to get so densely developed, yet still depend heavily on septic tank sewage systems.

That combination is the leading cause for groundwater contamination in unincorporated land east of Red Bluff and north of Antelope Boulevard, according to a 2003 draft report on the problem.

Sunset Street resident Jerry Darling, 64, said his house sits "right in the middle of all the red dots," referring to an Antelope area map showing wells that tested high in nitrate.

"Basically, I came to find out what the solution to this problem is, and it turns out all the solutions are long-term, and they're all expensive," he said.

Darling hasn't drunk his tap water for 15 years, he said. He, along with his neighbors and Tehama County officials, have known about the area's nitrate problem for a long time, he said.

"We're not drinking it, we're not cooking with it. It's bad enough we have to shower in it," Darling said.

Nitrate, a substance that can harm some infants, has been detected at high levels, especially west of Trinity Avenue and north of Antelope Boulevard, a 2003 study by the state Department of Water Resources says.

Thursday's meeting focused on the study and possible solutions. The event also included speakers from state water and health departments.

Jim Rohrbach of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board told residents they may have to pay an estimated $40 to $60 a month to connect to city sewer lines and eliminate septic tank use in their area.

"This is a lot of money. However, the problem isn't going to get any better," Rohrbach said.

If property owners don't agree to a new sewage plan, the water quality control board may outlaw their septic tank use - although this would be a last resort, Rohrbach said.

"The long and the short of it is, this is the regulation, and we've got to enforce it," he said.

Of all 88 wells tested in 2002, 20 percent - or 18 wells - showed nitrate levels exceeding the state and federally accepted limit of 45 milligrams per liter, the report reads.

Nitrate occurs naturally in water at a level of about 5 to 10 milligrams per liter.

Wells serve about 245 homes and businesses in the Antelope area, though the nitrate is not present throughout that region.

Twelve public water systems serving parts of the Antelope area are tested regularly and pose no concern.

Likewise, residents within Red Bluff city limits are unaffected. Their water comes from the city's deeper wells, which are tested annually and have shown safe nitrate levels, water officials have said.

The estimated $20 million to $40 million solution to the groundwater problem must be approved by a vote of Antelope area landowners, Rohrbach said. That vote is expected sometime next year.

Some residents questioned whether, after paying for sewer lines, they would still be alive by the time they were installed. Others commented that it would take more than their lifetimes to rid the Antelope area's groundwater of nitrate.

Rohrbach agreed that it probably would take that long, but it has to be done.

"But you would be keeping the problem from getting worse, and that's for your future generations," he said.

Others wondered if anything had to be done at all.

Lee Peters, an 85-year-old resident of Chestnut Avenue, said she's still drinking her tap water, although her well measures 44.7 milligrams of nitrate per liter - barely under the accepted limit.

"The water still tastes good, nitrates or no nitrates. But we do have a filter," she said.

Her son Michael Peters, 54, disagrees, saying he can taste the difference and isn't satisfied with how the Antelope neighborhood he's known since 1959 has grown so fast and so densely.

"Right now, we're in a runaway development phase. We've reached critical mass," he said.#

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