State-funded project to secure safe drinking water for multiple disadvantaged Moss Landing communities breaks ground

MOSS LANDING - The State Water Resources Control Board today joined Pajaro Sunny Mesa Community Services District, Community Water Center, Moss Landing Mobile Home Park and community members for the groundbreaking of the Springfield Project, a consolidation that will secure safe drinking water for nearly 400 residents, including 20 households currently dependent on domestic wells.

The project will serve multiple Moss Landing communities by building a new water supply well and expanding the Springfield Water System’s current infrastructure. When the Springfield consolidation is completed in late 2026, the Springfield system’s service will expand to an additional 20 homes in the surrounding area, along with Moss Landing Mobile Home Park.

“Water system consolidations are a tried-and-true strategy to secure long-term safe drinking water resources for small, rural communities,” said Sean Maguire, member of the State Water Board. “Many Californians like those in the Springfield project area have had to deal with contaminated drinking water for too long; critical projects like this that leverage local water system partnerships will help us move closer to ensuring those days are done.”

The project was fully funded through $15 million from the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant (EC-SDC) program, part of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is administered by the State Water Board in California. The board identified the Springfield Project as qualifying for the funding and provided technical assistance through its Safer and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resiliency (SAFER) drinking water program to help the Pajaro Sunny Mesa Community Services District apply for and receive the grant. The district will own and operate the expanded system.

“Water is life,” said Don Olsen, vice president of the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District. “It is the foundation of our health, our agriculture and our industries. Today, we take a bold step forward, one that will ensure clean, reliable water to our communities. This new water system is not just a set of pipes and pumps, it is a symbol of our commitment to the future. It is the product of years of planning, collaboration and determination.”

Many households in this agricultural region of Northern Monterey County rely on private wells or small water systems. And since 2019, the Springfield Water System has had elevated levels of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, a cancer-causing chemical found at industrial or hazardous waste sites.

While a long-term solution was pursued, the State Water Board collaborated with the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Community Water Center and the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District to provide bottled drinking water to more than 218 residences in the Struve Road, Springfield Road, and Bluff and Jensen Road areas. All this was made possible through the auspices of the SAFER program.

"This victory for clean water wasn't easy,” said Ignacio Garcia, a Moss Landing resident and AGUA coalition member. “It was the result of years of persistence and unity, and we know unity is strength. Having clean water is our right, and today we celebrate that we will finally have it."

While federal grants for projects involving nearby water systems have been canceled, the State Water Board fully funded the project consolidating the Springfield system with the Pajaro-Sunny Mesa District.

Consolidation, or the merging of a smaller, struggling water system with a larger, more resilient one, creates a larger customer base while boosting the overall technical and managerial capacity of water systems. Where possible, it can provide a sustainable solution for safe and affordable drinking water for communities served by failing systems. Since the SAFER program started in 2019, there have been 146 consolidations, securing safe drinking water for nearly 300,000 Californians. Currently, another 208 consolidations are in progress.

The SAFER program was launched after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 200, establishing funding for drinking water projects through the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Since then, the board has distributed over $1 billion in grants for drinking water projects in disadvantaged communities, and the number of Californians without safe drinking water has been reduced by nearly half. SAFER’s progress toward achieving safe drinking water for all Californians advances Gov. Gavin Newsom’s build more, faster agenda to deliver infrastructure upgrades across the state.

"Today’s groundbreaking is more than a milestone — it’s justice being served for a community that has fought for far too long to secure something as basic and essential as clean drinking water,” said Mayra Hernandez, community advocacy manager with Community Water Center, which was instrumental in securing the needed technical expertise and funding for the project, along with University Enterprises, Inc. (Sacramento State). “After more than six years of organizing, building relationships and ensuring this work was community-driven, we are proving that when communities lead, real and lasting change is possible. This is what the human right to water looks like in action."