The Central Coast Blue project, a multimillion-dollar recycled water initiative supported by cities like Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Arroyo Grande, faced a setback when it lost state grant funding in March, halting its progress.
During Monday’s Grover Beach City Council meeting, Council formally approved the withdrawal from the controversial project, and on Tuesday, the Arroyo Grande City Council did so too.
At the Arroyo Grande City Council meeting, residents from Grover Beach voiced concerns and reasons for withdrawing from the project.
“If we’re going to predict our water future, we should really do it now, without the drought," a local resident said during public comment.
“I really think that if you’re going to try to re-tool it you should really get out, take a breather, take a look at the numbers in six months and see what’s happening in the other communities," another local resident said at the meeting.
Council member Lan George pointed out that Grover Beach's withdrawal from the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) made it logical for their city to follow suit.
“With Grover initiating withdrawal from JPA, it really makes no sense for us to stay in it either," George said. "So I guess I would support pulling out as well. And taking a breather is a good way of putting it.”
Following the withdrawal, Arroyo Grande is now planning to defer a state water ballot measure until at least 2026 and explore alternative investments in smaller water recycling programs.
Officials from Grover Beach said further decisions regarding asset allocations resulting from the withdrawal will be negotiated among the involved cities after formal action is taken at the next Central Coast Blue Regional Recycled Water Authority Board meeting, in accordance with the JPA agreement.
While Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande have made their decisions, Pismo Beach still has not. Their assistant city manager tells me they’ll have a discussion item on next steps at their meeting next Tuesday.
Editors note (March 15) : A previous version of this story mentioned Grover Beach “staff approved withdrawal”, the City Council first provided direction to bring an item to withdraw at the April 22 meeting and then approved that item at the May 13 meeting.
