The city of Santa Ana and Orange County Water District (OCWD) host a community meeting beginning at 6:30 tonight to address continued water reliability and quality in the wake of pollution and the state drought.
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Santa Ana Tap Water Takes the Gold!
Groundwater cleanup projects, the drought, Orange County's water supply, water efficiency, rebate programs and any concerns residents raise will be discussed, and Spanish translation will be available, according to city officials.
About two-third of the award-winning water (it's true!) Santa Ana draws comes from the groundwater basin managed by OCWD. The rest is imported at nearly three times the cost of the water below Santa Ana.
But the city and OCWD acknowledge that unsafe levels of pollutants have been detected in shallow parts of the basin, something they blame on decades of heavy manufacturing. Five wells have been taken out of service because contaminants were approaching elevated levels. The event aims to explain to the public what is being done to keep drinking water safe.
Water supply reliability is especially crucial given the state's historic drought conditions. So, yeah, there will be much to discuss in the Santa Ana City Council Chambers through 8 tonight. Get there early and don't forget to hydrate.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.