Monterey County finds a sewage failure in Pajaro; property assessments continue.

As cleanups and assessments continue in the community of Pajaro after the Pajaro River levee broke on March 11, displacing hundreds of people, officials discovered an issue with a sewer line in Pajaro. The line serves Pajaro, Las Lomas, Fruitland Avenue and Bay Farms, and is treated at the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Facility. 

“We're working very hard with our contractor to institute a temporary repair to that high-pressure pipeline to reinstate a sewer service,” said Randell Ishii, Monterey County’s public works director, during a press conference on the Pajaro River Bridge on Saturday, March 18. 

For now, the strategy is to truck sewage away for treatment rather than relying on the damaged line. Currently, the county has 12 trucks pumping sewage from different locations. Ishii says this is a temporary solution while they fix the pipeline. “We hope to have this high-pressure pipeline back in service very soon,” he added.

Pajaro is also currently without a drinking water supply after Pajaro Sunny Mesa Community Services District issued a "do not drink" warning because a well may have been contaminated due to flooding. County Supervisor Glenn Church, whose district includes Pajaro and all of North Monterey County, says  they can't switch on the tapwater in Pajaro until the sewage system failure is addressed: "One thing we don't want to happen is a sewer system collapsing," Church says. 

So far, public works crews have cleaned Pajaro’s sanitary system, including sewer lines and manholes. Sewage and water service are on pause, and the entire town remains under evacuation orders.  

Officials don’t know how much sewage might have spilled in the area. The pipeline is located under Highway 1. "It's the area that was badly scoured by the Pajaro River floodwaters that tore through the area," Ishii noted.

The high-pressure pipeline could be repaired as early as Wednesday.