Let’s rethink Trinidad hotel proposal, before it’s too late
If you drill a well for your own household use, a shallow well might be good enough, although you still have to conform to public health water quality standards.
The standards are more stringent for water that will be used by the public — as in a hotel, for example. And they should be stricter, of course. Who would want hotel guests getting sick from contaminated water in their oceanfront rooms?
That’s just one of the questions that remain unanswered by the latest claims that two shallow wells drilled at the Trinidad Rancheria will be adequate to supply its proposed 5-story, 100-guestroom Hyatt high-rise hotel on the bluff above Trinidad Bay. The current projected demand for the hotel will be 9,500 gallons per day (at 70% capacity).
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), representing the Rancheria,
notified the California Coastal Commission on Sept. 10 that two shallow wells — the “Louie” well on the north side of the property, and the “Sundberg” well, down on the shoreline below the Cher-Ae Heights Casino on Scenic Drive — “sufficiently meet the water demand expectations the Tribe has for the project.”
But aside from the Rancheria’s own tests, there has not been a full independent analysis of the wells for a) sustained flow capacity over time (like during drought months or from year to year); b) for water quality and purity, or c) for how sustained pumping might affect other nearby wells and common aquifers.
The BIA acknowledges that the wells might not provide enough water for the hotel, even at only 70% capacity, and says, “the Tribe [will] investigate supplemental sources in the event demand exceeds current expectations or if there is a drop in groundwater.”
Anyone who lives on our coast knows that natural water sources — whether creeks or aquifers — can fluctuate wildly between the rainy season (when the Rancheria’s wells were tested) and the annual drought months, as well as from year to year. A closely monitored community well less than two miles away in Westhaven, for example, varies widely in production. Further, nearby shallow wells have failed completely.
What “supplemental sources” might serve in case of “emergency and unforeseen natural events?” you ask. The BIA says vaguely that another well might be drilled somewhere, or “incidental trucking” of water along Scenic Drive might be deployed.
This kind of seat-of-the-pants system might be OK for your own house, but requirements and expectations for facilities that serve the public (100s daily at a 100-guestroom hotel) are higher. This doesn’t sound like the kind of reliable water source that the Coastal Commission — and any paying hotel guest — might require.
And what about water treatment, both before human consumption and as wastewater?
Has the Rancheria established that it has the expertise to treat water from these wells to meet water quality standards? The federal EPA is responsible for ensuring that water on tribal lands meet federal standards, although it is unclear if the EPA has even been consulted.
Then there’s the question of pumping an additional 9,500 gallons per day or more through leachfields upslope from the shallow “Sundberg” well. Concerns prevail about possible slumping of the sandy bluff, and possible contamination of the groundwater that is part of the “Sundberg” well’s source.
The California Coastal Commission is still a player in this ongoing drama because in August 2019, it set the condition of a reliable water supply on the hotel project before it would give its go-ahead. But the Commission’s chaotic hearing and confused vote in Eureka left many observers and some closer to the process wondering what had happened. “What did we just vote for?” one commissioner asked after a split vote to ignore the staff recommendation rejecting the hotel development.
This issue is important enough that it deserves another, more measured and careful public hearing. There is reason to believe that the 2019 vote actually was intended by some commissioners to come out differently, and that the confusion of both the chair and staff muddled the result.
Let’s step back and work together to develop a plan for economic development that will work after the pandemic and current downturn in the hospitality industry eases, a plan that will benefit both the members of the Rancheria and the residents of the Trinidad community.
If you’re also concerned about this project, I urge you to email the Coastal Commission, which is accepting public comment until Oct. 19, at eorfc@coastal.ca.gov.