With 15 unsuitable well sites eliminated, seven will get deeper examination focused mainly on costs, water quality, and impacts on neighboring septic systems.
- 191 Alviso Drive
- 640 Fairway Drive
- Las Posas Country Club (easterly end)
- Luchese Ranch (off Old Coach Drive)
- Las Posas Equestrian Park (2084 Via Veneto)
- 215 Valley Vista
- 210 Marine View
Costs. Project cost estimates have to be site specific. Drilling costs are highly dependent on depth, which range from about 1,000 feet to 1,450 feet or more. Different sites require different lengths of pipe to connect them to the existing Crestview system. As it happens the site that requires the longest pipe would also be the shallowest well; so, there are tradeoffs. Site acquisition costs can also vary from zero to $505,000 already paid for 191 Alviso. The costs of connecting to electric and gas utilities can vary substantially with distance. Noise mitigation costs can vary depending on distance from neighbors. Restarting the treatment plant, if needed for iron and manganese, would add about $0.5 million. The costs of getting a permit could also range from very small to huge: Crestview spent about $900,000 in its failed attempt to mitigate the neighborhood impacts and get a permit for Well #7 at 191 Alviso.
Water Quality. All sites except LPCC would pump water from the deeper Grimes Canyon Aquifer, which tends to have substantially higher concentrations of total dissolved solids (hardness), iron, and manganese. Existing Well #4 pumps from this aquifer, and each time that pump was set deeper it encountered lower quality water. The LPCC site would access the upper Fox Canyon Aquifer which is generally better quality but is near some agricultural wells that have shown nitrate contamination. Assessing these risks will require some serious analysis by hydrogeologists.
Septic Systems. All sites except LPCC are within 600 feet of up to 29 existing septic systems, which is the main reason Ventura County denied Crestview’s application for a well at 191 Alviso. Putting a new public water well within 600 feet of an existing seepage pit causes those seepage pits to become “non-conforming uses” and subjects those owners to stricter and potentially quite expensive requirements if they need to add or replace a seepage pit. Each owner would have to disclose this situation to lenders and buyers, and real estate professionals say the market values of all those homes would be substantially reduced. Crestview has recently signaled it will accept responsibility for all these risks at Well #8.
The Ad Hoc Committee, with input from the Shareholder Advisory Committee, has a lot of important work to do.
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