When it comes to drilling for water in Coulterville, the county keeps striking out.
Three separate test wells have proven insufficient or deficient in some way.
The last well that was drilled, the third, did not provide a reliable secondary water source for Coulterville, staff said.
Public Works Director Shannon Hanson said tests had indicated “hydraulic connections” with a neighboring well.
Public works has decided to pivot, from drilling a new well, to strengthening the existing systems infrastructure.
The work is expected to “improve the reliability and resiliency of the Coulterville community’s existing water system,” according to a staff memo, by providing backup power and rehabilitating a 205,000-gallon storage tank.
Hanson said a backup generator is a “game changer.”
“If the electricity goes out, the water goes out,” she said.
Mariposa County Supervisor Shannon Poe said the area is a “unique geological location” and there is “not much to draw on.”
The project is funded through a grant from the California Department of Water Resources. The cost of the infrastructure changes is $526,000. The total project is costing $1.5 million.
The work is expected to be completed by Oct. 23.
Coulterville is one of four communities — along with Lake Don Pedro, Yosemite West and Mariposa Pines — struggling with an antiquated water system with very few users to subsidize costs.
Coulterville’s water and wastewater system has a small customer base of 81 ratepayers and the revenue of $166,000 doesn’t begin to match expenses of $264,000. It leaves an operating deficit of $139,000.
That doesn’t include repayment of operating loans that next year are projected to reach $491,000.
The current average monthly bill for Coulterville is $66 for water and $87 for wastewater for a combined statement of $153 a month.
A consultant hired by the county is recommending a rate increase that would see that combined bill more than double next year to $356. By 2030, the bill would increase by 500 percent to $758 a month.
During a tense town hall in May, residents angrily rejected the idea of rate increases, which under Proposition 218 would require ratepayer approval.
But grant money to rehabilitate such an old system is scarce.
“A lot of grants are saying, ‘Sorry, you need to show you are maintaining the system and have financial solvency,’” Hanson said.
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