fighting an underground perchlorate plume that affects 75 wells and has forced closure of 20 wells that could supply 120,000 families. Soto is hosting a hearing Wednesday in Sacramento of her Inland Empire Perchlorate Task Force on problems there.
The largest impact is to 50 perchlorate-contaminated wells in the San Gabriel Valley, enough to supply 250,000 families, the group said.
Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, is fighting a plume of perchlorate from its Aerojet plant. Six affected wells there would have been enough to supply 22,000 families.
Fresno is spending $1 million to treat four wells contaminated with nitrates from fertilizer runoff. Nitrates contaminate eight wells that could supply 16,000 families.
California’s inability to plan for trimming its overuse of the Colorado River water it shares with six upstream states led to a Dec. 31 federal cutback in the state’s share.
Gov. Gray Davis last week summoned negotiators from four Southern California water districts to talks brokered by top aides, talks that continued Monday behind closed doors. They’re seeking a deal that would involve fallowing Imperial County farmland, with the irrigation water instead going to urban areas and to protect the environmentally sensitive Salton Sea.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.