WATER DIVISION OVERVIEW

The Paso Robles Water Division crew, currently at 5 full time staff, operates and maintains 14 wells, five booster stations (used to pump water from lower elevations to higher ones), four reservoirs that hold a total of 12,150,000 gallons; two 4-million-gallon tanks on Golden Hill Road, one 4-million-gallon reservoir on the West Side, and a 150,000-gallon tank on Merryhill (all able to be monitored by a remote system), and 148 miles of water pipe. This extensive water system serves nearly 8000 residential, over 130 commercial, 700 irrigation and approximately 370 construction meter customers within the City of Paso Robles.

The crew maintains the distribution system, fixes meter leaks and broken city mains, installs and replaces water services and helps customers shut off the water to assist with customer needed repairs. The crew works closely with contractors to monitor and enforce the City’s specifications for water system construction, perform plan checks for new developments and inspect installations. Other responsibilities include monitoring and enforcing the City’s cross-connection program.

A cross connection is any point of connection to the City’s water system where water could backflow from a private system into the City’s, possibly contaminating it. Currently, the City requires backflow devices to be placed on all commercial and irrigation meters to protect the City’s water supply. The State requires testing of all backflow devices on an annual basis. The County of San Luis Obispo assists the City in this program by sending out test forms to owners and the City enforces testing by tracking all devices in a database and following up on delinquent testing to ensure that all are tested.

Water Quality

Over the years, the City has dedicated itself to producing drinking water that meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards. You can download the entire Water Quality Report here or pick one up at Water Services in City Hall at 1000 Spring Street.

Water Sources

The City of Paso Robles uses groundwater only, drawn from a large aquifer known as the Paso Robles Basin and the Salinas River Underflow. Four of the river wells are known as the Thunderbird Wells located on Ramada Drive, and the fifth is known as the Borcherdt Well on South River Road. The remaining nine wells draw from the groundwater basin and are located on the east side of town as follows: Sherwood 9 Well at Sherwood Park, Sherwood 11 Well on Linne Road, Butterfield 12 Well on Golden Hill Road, Osborne 14 Well on Cottonwood Drive, Avery Well and Dry Creek 18 Well on Airport Road, Tarr 19 Well on Aerotech Way, Royal Oak 20 Well on Airport Road, Fox 21 Well on Dry Creek Road, and Cuesta 22 Well on Buena Vista.

Testing

The City’s water is regulated by numerous agencies under many laws. Some of the agencies that monitor are: California Department of Health Services, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Water Resources, San Luis Obispo County, and Regional Water Quality Control Board. To comply with regulations, the water wells and locations throughout the City are tested regularly. The samples are sent out to an independent laboratory to be tested, insuring compliance with all state and federal regulations. On a weekly basis the system is tested for coliform bacteria as an early indicator for pathogenic contamination in the water.

For information on connection fees, visit the Building Division's Development Fees page. For monthly fees, see the Administrative Services Utilities and Billing page.