Two local government success stories, one slow and one fast.

A fact that should be shocking in the 21st century in the United States of America: It is not safe to drink the tap water in the South Monterey County community of San Lucas, and it hasn’t been since at least 2011.

That’s when public health officials first issued a “Do Not Drink” order due to an unsafe level of nitrates in the water.

“We are requiring the use of bottled water or water from an approved source for drinking or cooking,” a July 7, 2011 notice from the Health Department read. “Research is being done to find another water source.”

Fifteen years later, it looks like that research – and the funding needed to accomplish it – is finally here.

On Tuesday, July 7, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to accept a $4 million construction grant from the State Water Resources Control Board, reflecting funding that was earmarked by the State Legislature to serve this rural community of roughly 325 people served (theoretically) by 100 water connections. Along with federal funding, it reaches the nearly $8 million – roughly a quarter of what’s needed to finally build a solution. (This solution – installation of two wells, a new water treatment system, and necessary infrastructure improvements including pipeline improvements – should last. Despite a new well drilled in 2014, that solution was short-lived and a second “Do Not Drink” order issued in 2016 has remained in place ever since due to the high volume of nitrates, manganese and iron in the water.)

All this time, residents have relied on deliveries of bottled water for drinking. Imagine, once the work is finally done, the ability to simply fill up a glass of water or a pot to boil pasta in the sink – something so basic that most of us forget to appreciate it.

“In the last few years, we’ve had some incredible milestones,” County Supervisor Chris Lopez says. “This is not the end, but it signifies we are on the right path, and the state and federal government are investing in the solution together.” For years, the Board of Supervisors has ranked it in their top priorities when it comes to advocacy at the state and federal level. Finally, it seems the long game is paying off.

A much faster timeline to success also received unanimous support on July 7, when the board voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance requiring that pet dogs (older than 6 months) and cats (5 months) are spayed or neutered, modeled on a similar ordinance adopted in 2024 in the City of Seaside.

Supervisor Luis Alejo said two high school students in his young supervisors program first raised the issue last August. Here it is less than a year later, and those young people were there to testify before the board urging final adoption of an ordinance they helped brainstorm.

“It’s the first time in recent county history that high school students have successfully proposed a county policy change,” Alejo said. “What impressed me is they didn’t just identify a problem, they became part of the solution.”

That solution is meant to help minimize the number of the 1,000-plus animals that are euthanized each year at Hitchcock Road Animal Services in Salinas.

The young leaders who brought this forward include Eli David, a co-founder of the Paws Club at Carmel High School, who spoke on July 7. “While approaching our animal overpopulation problem can be complicated, the issue itself is simple: Our status quo is broken, our status quo is causing unnecessary suffering of animals countywide,” he said.

“We came together and said enough is enough, and we made change for the better by adopting this ordinance. You have shown us young leaders of tomorrow that we can make change today.”

Of course, this ordinance alone won’t solve an animal overpopulation problem – access to low-cost spay and neuter clinics is a necessity, and enforcement will be another obstacle. But in a world where ideas hit obstacles (cost is just one of many) or imperfect solutions fall apart due simply to their imperfection – or because a project as essential as getting a community safe drinking water takes upwards of 15 years – it’s too easy to become cynical. Some days, local government gets to say yes to solutions.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Staff writers Celia Jiménez and Katie Rodriguez contributed to this report.