Supervisor promoting new water pipeline

April 27, 2014
Bruce Gibson

Bruce Gibson

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson is spearheading plans to construct two water pipelines to provide surplus water from Nacimiento Lake to the county during times state water is in short supply.

At a cost of about $3 million, the almost mile-long pipeline is projected to bring emergency water supplies to Morro Bay and multiple public facilities on Highway 1 in northern San Luis Obispo County. County public works engineers are completing plans for the pipeline which is slated to only be used when state water is unavailable.

Gibson, a vocal opponent of desalination, is in favor of the project because it diversifies water sources for several facilities currently dependent on state water.

Nevertheless, at times of severe drought, both state water and Nacimento Lake water are in short supply. The state Drought Task Force is recommending desalination plants on the Central Coast.

“On the Central Coast, they have in the past looked at desalination,” said Bill Croyle, director of the state Drought Task Force. “So if we lose our groundwater and surface water, we are going to go to the ocean. It is going to be expensive, but you bring in mobile plants and fire them up.”

Several years ago, the $176 million dollar controversial Nacimiento Water Project pipeline was completed. While promoted by some San Luis Obispo County staffers and officials, opponents of the pipeline argued for a desalination plant contending that during a serious drought water levels at the lake would be miniscule.


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I think the voters of the 2nd District would be interested in discovering where.Bruce is really living these days. Paso Robles is a long ways from the 2nd District.


Oh please….


why do these guys adopt these positions right before election time… oh yeah, they want to get elected.


Doesn’t Monterrey County have the responsibility to maintain the proper discharge from Naciemento reservoir to salt water intrusion in the Salinas valley? And doesn’t that trump any requests for water to be sent south?

Good grief, look at other countries that depend on desal…..it’s what we need…at least for a back-up plan


oops…address and prevent…


Gibson’s proposed pipeline is a fraudulent, taxpayer-robbing scam.


Lake Nacimiento is dangerously low. There is no surplus water at Lake Nacimiento period.


Residents living on the shoreline of Lake Nacimiento are even concerned about running out of water.


The stupid, short-signeted morons on the SLO County Board of Supervisors should have thought about this when they rejected State Water.


Incompetent liars, cheats and swindlers, like Gibson and Hill, need to be thrown out of office soonest.


As long as Gov is spending my money, I have to say that the only available drought reliability for the none riparian areas is the Pacific Ocean. Exporting fresh water has already exceeded done, as done can be within California. All written, publicly funded experts have already come to this conclusion. Promissing anything else is for a vote followed by a big disappointment.


Well at least it got you mean people talking about something else.


SLO county is entitled to 17K acre feet of Naci water a year. If there is water. The current water level is 22% and it is the end of the rainy season. By July there will be very little water. San Antonio is at 5% and will take years to fill and SLO gets none of that water. Why is this idiot wanting to throw money away. What is his cut on this. Did he and Pavvo not make enough on the Los Osos sewer kickbacks ? We need a water source that does not rely on local rainfall. Pipelines from Washington/Oregon or Desalination plants. This does not make any sense at all, of course neither did the original pipeline. The 200 million we spent on that white elephant could have built a drought proof desal plant the would have provided over 12000 acre feet of water every year.


Good information, Sam. Now I am positive that this pipeline is nothing more than an election-time dog and pony show.


Forgot to mention that that 17k entitlement is the top entitlement to Naci water. We get it first. Seems there’s plenty for several years of that yet. If you want to drink pond scum.


Tapped Out?????

When State Water is not available and less water in Nacimento Lake,Who is going to be the Loser by not receiving the water they need?

Desal plants are the answer,yet Bruce Gibson is opposed to that.

Time to CHANGE THE SUPERVISOR BOARD.

PLEASE PEOLPLE VOTE BRUCE GIBSON AND ADAM HILL OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!


Yes, they are the heads on the two-headed snake that has done so much damage to this county. they need to go. When we are rid of them, things are likely to improve.


mbactivist, do you realize that your favored 3 in MB are snuggled up to gibson BIG TIME? irons campaign manager, in fact a county worker and a HUGE gibson supporter, what gives – how does that compute? Help us here!


Unfortunately, the Morro Bay Council majority has been conned by sleazy Gibson. However, despite his bad influence, in terms of their actions and visions, they do a lot better job of running the City in an honest and ethical manner than their political opponents.


Do they screw up sometimes? Sure. Are they smarter, and more committed to doing what benefits the average resident than the likes of Nancy, George, and Carla? Absolutely.


Typical government, much like our current deficit issues. Keep borrowing from elsewhere to make up for something you should have to start with (overextended) to do things you shouldent be doing (grapes & hotels) and have no way to pay back.To Gibson and the rest of the circle jerks, you can spend all the money on earth and steal all the water from elsewhere you want, but when there is no replenishment eventually it will be gone. If you politicians had a clue every one of the cities in this county would be fast tracking their WWTF’s to provide tertiary treatment and begin ground water recharging. The indisputable fact is from Santa Maria to Paso there are more than 10 plants with a combined effluent production of 15 to 20 million gallons of usable water EVERY DAY being sent to the ocean or into a creek never to be seen again.