North County farmers seem apprehensive about $75 million water project.

Eight months into operation, the much-touted Castroville Irrigation Project is looking a lot like a $75 million party that many on the invitation list don''t want to attend.

Hailed as an innovative way to recycle water and make a dent in the problem of seawater intrusion in the Salinas Valley, the project has been plagued by water quality problems. And--despite extensive testing--lingering apprehension remains on the part of area growers about how the public will perceive the use of treated wastewater on food crops.

Consequently, many area growers are continuing to use their own wells, taking a "wait and see" approach to the new water system.

According to Curtis Weeks, deputy general manager of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, to date only 62 of 112 "turnouts" (connections to farms) are hooked up.

"We are apprehensive about anything new," says Tony Alameda, owner of Top Flavor Farms in North Monterey County. "To be doing this changeover and using new technology is making everybody apprehensive. We are all just waiting to see how this thing shakes out."

Completed earlier this year, the Castroville Irrigation Project (CIP) is a $75 million water treatment and distribution system that planners hope will partially solve the ongoing problem of seawater intrusion in the area''s aquifers by lessening North County''s dependence on groundwater. It treats and purifies wastewater from Salinas and the Peninsula, then distributes it to North County farms through a pipeline system. When fully operational, CIP will annually provide 30,000-acre-feet of treated wastewater to the farms around Castroville.

Though the water is safe for agricultural use, recent weekly testing found unusually high levels of dissolved solids in the water.

"The numbers we saw indicated there were high salt levels, specifically sodium and chloride," explains Keith Israel, general manager of the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, which is charged with operating the project constructed by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency with the help of government grants.

The source of the salt was traced to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which occasionally flushes its tanks, dumping thousands of gallons of salt water into the sewer system. Needless to say, that situation did not do much to reassure already skittish farmers about the safety of treated water.

"The main concern for me right now is the issue of salt," says Chris Bunn of Crown Packing, which grows and ships lettuce, cauliflower and celery in the project area. "Our water from our own wells is so much better than [the water provided by the CIP]. I don''t really want to hook up until they do something about it."

Alameda seems to share Bunn''s lack of enthusiasm about hooking up to the system. "I''ve got a good well that I''m using. Now I''m going to have to switch over to a lesser quality [source of water] and I''m not too keen on that."

The Aquarium has already taken some steps to remedy the problem, which, according to Israel, should be completely solved by next spring. But the episode has aggravated long-standing fears about the project.

While the use of treated water for irrigation is common, the CIP is one of the first in the nation to actually use tertiary treated wastewater on food crops, like lettuce, that are not cooked before being eaten. Farmers, who live and die by public perception of their product, became understandably nervous.

To ease these fears, project planners when undertook an extensive $7 million study known as the "Mercer Study"--to determine the safety of the plan. According to Weeks, the study released in 1987, determined the treated water was perfectly safe. Supplemental testing was also conducted before the project was even operational specifically to allay concerns about the safety of water derived from the project.

"This is high-quality, tertiary recycled water," says Weeks. "It has been demonstrated to be safe for this type of use. We went through an extensive food safety program and didn''t find anything bad."

Many farmers seem personally satisfied with the safety of the water, but some are still apprehensive about how the public will perceive it--an important component in a market dependent on consumer confidence.

From a safety issue, there is no problem at all," says Alameda, "but we know how finicky the public is."

"Public perception is something you have to be aware of," says Israel. "We have done all the testing work and have gone beyond what is required and we can assure everyone that this is absolutely safe."

One local agriculturist said he actually feels more confident using treated water than well water. "I think the water has been tested and re-tested and proven to be perfectly safe," says Marty Johnson, regional director of agriculture for Dole Fresh Vegetables. "I can feel more confident in knowing what is in it and what is not in it. With well water, we''ve used it forever and it hasn''t killed anybody, so many people think, ''why should we test it some more.''"

According to Weeks, MCWRA continues to work with farmers to find ways to improve the CIP and to alleviate their fears. Yet, apprehension remains.

Alameda says he plans to wait to hook up to the CIP system. "I''m paying all the extra money, but I''m still using my source of water. I''m not going to [use CIP water] until they force the issue on me."