More than $6 million in state funding is coming to San Luis Obispo. It’s to clean up contaminated groundwater in the city.
In the early 1990s, it was discovered that the city’s groundwater became contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE.
That's why most of its drinking water comes from local reservoirs like Whale Rock, Santa Margarita Lake, and the Nacimiento Reservoir.
Nick Teague, the city’s Water Resources Program Manager, said this money will help build two new supply wells.
“The wells are going to be placed just south of our water resource recovery facility. And so we're trying to locate them close to existing City facilities just for ease of operation,” Teague said.
Teague said most of the contamination has settled in the southern part of downtown SLO, near South Higuera and the Madonna Plaza. He said it came from dry cleaning businesses that existed in the area from the 1960s to the 1980s.
With the funding, the city plans to pump the water out of the ground and clean it to meet drinking water standards. The wells are expected to be fully operational by 2026.
