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Arroyo Grande seeks to purchase state water amid legal issues

June 8, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

Amid uncertainty over the Lopez Lake water supply, the Arroyo Grande City Council is seeking to purchase state water, but it will take a vote of the people.

The Arroyo Grande City Council is scheduled on Tuesday to consider putting a measure to participate in State Water Project on the Nov. 3 ballot. If at least four city council members approve the proposal, it will appear on the General Election ballot.

Arroyo Grande receives the bulk of its water, about 61%, from Lopez Lake. Other sources include the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin and the Pismo Formation.

In 1990, Arroyo Grande voters approved Measure “A,” which bared the city from participating in the
California State Water Project without approval from voters.

On Nov. 8, 2016, Arroyo Grande voters approved a measure allowing the city to purchase State Water during local water emergencies.

In Aug. 2024, four environmental groups sued San Luis Obispo County in federal court, alleging that Lopez Dam operations violate the Endangered Species Act by harming steelhead trout in Arroyo Grande Creek. Arroyo Grande alone has already absorbed more than $1.6 in costs tied to the litigation.

The plaintiffs are seeking release requirements totaling roughly 5,800 acre-feet of additional water annually from Lopez Reservoir. County modeling reportedly shows that if the proposed release schedule had been in place during the 2020 to 2023 drought, Lopez Lake would have reached “dead pool,” meaning no water deliveries for more than a year to communities dependent on the reservoir.

While having access to State Water during droughts eases concerns, State Water has been unreliable during droughts.

“A supplemental water supply would diversify the city’s overall water portfolio and improve water supply reliability,” according to Tuesday’s agenda. “Participation in the State Water Project is not guaranteed and may require long- term financial commitments that have not yet been fully analyzed or publicly disclosed depending upon the final amount of participation.”

 


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5 Comments

With the bad decisions that were made 10-15 years ago concerning State water.

We all know that we have a water shortage in the entire County.

Why not just enlarge Diablo canyons R.O. system to the scale needed by the County and just have a small property tax increase to pay for it. You could easily create enough to keep Whale rock full and pump water into Naciamento, Lopez and Margherita. Those reservoirs are the Majority of the drinking water in SLO County and if designed properly, could feed Nipomo also. Let’s all demand accountability from our elected officials and see tangible results for our Taxpayers monies instead of Lawsuits and nothing being solved.

Men in the 18th Century built America into an industry power house.

Now the great state can’t solve a little problem with where is there enough water for our needs.

Bunch of Genius at the helm.


3

Maybe someone who is knowledgeable about water law could tell us what happens if the environmentalists win and we have another drought.


11

After years of actions by our mayor and council to draw more from our limited water supply without proper planning they have no choice now but to make us pay for high price state water, from a system that normally supplies around 15-20% of what it already promised to recipients. So what we will now pay a hefty amount, on top of the 4.5 million Paulding and our mayor and council has cost us for legal loses over Lopez lawsuit, .for an allotment of state water where we will receive maybe 20% if we are lucky but we will pay for 100%,. mayor please leave soon, we can not afford anymore of your disastrous decisions


23

Haha, the whole reason people were told to reject state water is because the NIMBYs didn’t want AG to grow. Well that was a big failure, AG grew anyway. Should have bought into State water when it was cheaper. Now Santa Maria makes bank selling their State water. Smart voters in Santa Maria.


9

While the Coastal Steelhead is on a very long arch of decline- one that started with the arrival of the current interglacial cycle thousands of years ago, it may still be a useful club for control, thanks to the poorly written Endangered Species Act.

Like the California Condor, or the Sabertooth Cat, these species had their time, but the perpetually shifting , long term climate picks different winners and losers.

For now , ‘environmentalist’ lawyers can profit from fighting for them and the political elites can use them to take cover and continue to regulate and control the community.

Putting fish over people with a resource like Lopez lake is an absurdity. If Arroyo jumps in with State water , I wonder if the same enviro groups will petition to remove the dam all together.

Only time will tell.


37