Monitoring Program

Central Basin assists agencies in meeting complex state and federal drinking water standards and monitoring requirements through the Cooperative Basin-Wide Title 22 Groundwater Quality Monitoring Program. The program provides local agencies with groundwater sample collection, water quality testing and reporting services. In fiscal year 1998-99, 30 agencies in Central Basin's service area participated in the program. More than 1,500 samples were collected and analyzed from more than 250 wells.

In March 1999, Governor Gray Davis signed an executive order requiring the use of MTBE, a gasoline oxygenate, be phased out by 2002. For local water agencies this means continued and diligent well testing to monitor for MTBE. By the end of fiscal year 1998-99, all wells in Central Basin's service area were tested at least once and MTBE was not detected.

In another development, the California Department of Health Services (DHS) recommended wells be tested for the rocket fuel component, perchlorate. Central Basin coordinated local well testing and detected low levels of perchlorate in two wells. The DHS now requires all agencies in the Central Basin service area monitor for perchlorate. Further, the presence of perchlorate in the San Gabriel Basin could impact water quality in Central Basin's service area. In response, the Central Basin Board of Directors support a plan to clean up the contaminated groundwater before it migrates into the Central Basin. The "San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund" was created and 11 firms agreed to pay $200 million to construct treatment facilities throughout the San Gabriel Valley to remove contaminants and restore the groundwater basin.

For more information about Central Basin's Water Quality Programs, please contact us.

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