The San Lucas Water District votes in favor of a potential solution to their water issues.

Valentin Resendiz-Luna, a San Lucas resident for 20 years, has seen the community shrink over time due to the chronic lack of clean drinking water.

For nearly 14 years, San Lucas residents have been receiving their water on a limited schedule: On Tuesdays, households can pick up two 5-gallon containers, and on Thursdays, 15 gallons total. But this doesn’t cut it for many families – meaning they must drive eight miles to King City to purchase more water that’s safe to drink.

“When my kids come over and we have cups of coffee, on a good weekend, I’ll go through 10 gallons easy,” Resendiz-Luna says. “I can just imagine how families that have six, seven or eight people are living.”

The community of roughly 324 has been stuck for years due to concerning levels of nitrate, manganese and iron in their water, which has made it unsafe to drink. The issue has stalled housing development and has become a problem for local schools. But Tuesday, June 10, the San Lucas County Water District held a hearing which ended in a 5-0 vote in favor of a long-term drinking water solution.

“It’s just been a heartbreaking issue to have to continue to deal with all these years and with so many potential starts, but here we are,” says County Supervisor Chris Lopez. “It finally feels like we’ve turned that corner.”

Four pathways were discussed, outlined in a final engineering report produced by the State Water Resources Control Board in February.

While a pipeline solution has been in discussion for years, it was ultimately decided against due to high capital costs, estimated around $30 million. Local officials and community members largely supported Alternative 4, in favor of creating a new well with onsite treatment and estimated to cost about $15 million.

As part of the vote, ownership of the water system will be transferred to Cal Water King City, pending their approval. The goal, Lopez adds, is to keep water bills low – around $90 a month, and about $60 for those who qualify for the low-income program.

The vote marks the first step in an unknown timeline with many stages ahead. The State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Financial Assistance and the Division of Drinking Water will meet with representatives from the San Lucas Water District to discuss funding and lay out next steps, according to a spokesperson with the Rural Community Assistance Corp.

Funding for the project will be pieced together from the state, nonprofits, the county and granting agencies, kicked off by $1 million secured by Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s, D-San Jose, office; Lofgren and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, D-California, are advocating for over $3.6 million in federal funding for San Lucas.

“We’ve been promised this in San Lucas so many times before, and people have just lost hope,” Resendiz-Luna says. “Now we just have to wait for all the red tape to be able to break ground.”