RANCHO CORDOVA'S COMING WATER CRISIS

By James R. "Jim" Martin

Areojet contamination is constantly closing more wells that supply Rancho Cordova with water. EPA estimates cleanup will take 240 years. We must find replacement water before new development.

1. Contamination of wells has occurred and is projected to continue to occur due to the migration of the contamination plume. A year ago the largest plume extended over 10 square miles outward and downward for hundreds of feet. It is growing in all directions. Already 18 wells in Rancho Cordova have been closed because of high levels of contamination and additional wells are contaminated but still operational. A year ago, only nine wells had been taken out of service. It should be Aerojet's responsibility to clean up the contamination and to provide replacement water. However, the time frame for clean up is so long, 240 years according to EPA's analysis, that the question arises # will Aerojet always be here? As Aerojet sells off parts of itself bit by bit, the risk increases that at some point its remaining assets will not be sufficient to fund the necessary remedial actions. Therefore, the answer would be for Aerojet to set up a trust fund to adequately pay for future remediation before it is able to liquidate any more of its assets. How to get the leverage to get this to happen is the difficulty. We must keep pressure on Aerojet and the federal government. A secondary problem is the source of replacement water as the contamination migration affects more and more wells. As more wells are affected, replacement water becomes more expensive and difficult to obtain. Speedier cleanup of the contamination would be the best solution.

2. Undeveloped areas within the proposed city overlap a portion of the contaminated groundwater. Groundwater in the Aerojet Rio Del Oro area and the Sunrise-Douglas area is either contaminated or in the projected path of the contamination plume. Consequently the development of these areas is dependent on finding an alternate water supply (i.e. importing water from somewhere else). Rio Del Oro presently has no usable source of water. Sunrise-Douglas developers have purchased water rights in the Vineyard area of the Consumnes River groundwater basin and propose to import this water. However, there is not a sound scientific basis for believing that this will provide a reliable water supply and there is serious question as to the potential for damaging the Consumnes groundwater basin. My solution would be to follow the law and allow development of these properties only to the extent a scientifically proven water supply is secured which does not have an adverse effect on groundwater in other areas.