Coachella Valley Residents Invited to Palm Desert Workshop on Controversial State Plan to Raise Drinking Water Standards

Coachella Valley residents are being invited to attend a workshop in Palm Desert on Monday Oct. 7 to hear about a controversial and potentially costly state proposal to raise drinking water standards by reducing levels of chromium-6.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday Oct. 1 in Palm Desert to oppose the plan proposed by the California Department of Public Health, with 4th District Supervisor John Benoit estimating the average Coachella Valley water customer could see bills increase $500 a year if the new standards are put in place.

The Coachella Valley Water District is also opposed to the state plan to limit chromium-6 to 10 parts per billion in wells and reservoirs throughout the state.

The state health department is giving concerned parties until Oct. 11 to submit comments on the proposal, which if approved, would take effect immediately under a regulatory scheme enacted by the Legislature in 2004.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution asking the state to reassess the proposal in the interest of sparing ratepayers exorbitant costs.

"This is a very big problem looming for us,'' Benoit said Oct. 1 in Palm Desert. "It's noble to ensure the cleanest drinking water available. But this is a standard that's not applicable anywhere else in the nation."

The Coachella Valley Water District plans to host the public workshop at 6 p.m. Monday at the Steve Robbins Administration Building, 75515 Hovely Lane
East, Palm Desert.

According to organizers, residents will be informed about the proposed new drinking water standards and how they can submit comments to the health department.

CVWD Environmental Services Director Steve Bigley said earlier this week that half the valley's aquifers would be affected by the state plan. Bigley noted that chromium-6 levels in area wells range from 9 parts ber billion to 22 parts per billion.

The amount "10 parts per billion" is equivalent to ten drops of liquid in a 10,000-gallon swimming pool, Bigley said.

Chromium-6, also known as hexavalent chromium, received notoriety in the film "Erin Brockovich" for its impact on residents of Hinkley, Calif., about 100 miles north of Palm Desert in San Bernardino County.

In that case, carcinogenic levels turned up in drinking water as a result of industrial pollution.

But most of the chromium-6 in Coachella Valley groundwater can be traced to natural soil erosion at or near quake fault lines, according to Bigley.

According to Benoit, filtering out chromium-6 at the micron-level proposed by the state entails constructing treatment facilities that are expensive to build and operate - costs that will have to be passed on to consumers.

State health officials have estimated the average ratepayer would only see a $64 spike in water costs - a figure that "severely underestimates the cost impacts to Coachella Valley" residents, Benoit said.

On Oct. 1, the board vote included the resolution that will be forwarded to the Department of Public Health, as well as a directive to state lobbyists to take up the county's cause with policymakers.

Reported by City News Service