Letter: Sad state of Lompico Water District

EDITOR,
After hearing about all the problems the Lompico Water District is currently going through — grand jury investigations, unrest between board members and the recent rise in our rates — I had a look around the water district myself. What I found was truly alarming.
I’ve lived in Lompico for 26 years and never worried about water availability. But now I see our water district is in disrepair. All Lompico residents know how the pipes under our roads are always breaking. And when I went up to see the Lewis tanks, the largest tanks in our district, what I saw shocked me. The tanks are sitting on rotting timbers and are covered with leaking patches. We are wasting our valuable, scarce water!
The tanks aren’t on foundations and are not up to earthquake standards. Without these tanks, Lompico will not have adequate drinking water or water for fire protection. These tanks need replacing.
The water district has been derelict in going forward with necessary upgrades, and why? They have not been collecting enough fees to keep the district solvent for repairs or upgrades.
I was a volunteer at Zayante Fire for many years, and I saw how, through careful planning, the board directed the department to fund repairs and upgrades through bond issues and grants. Our water district board needs to use some of these tools to keep our precious water available when needed.
I am aware that we have new members on the board and that not all these problems are new. I commend the hard work the board members do, but being without water for daily use and fire protection is a scary thought for our community.