Mar. 20--Itchy skin, stubborn water spots and clogged refrigerator filters have some Roseville residents crying foul over the city's new method of storing surface water in underground aquifers.
"Our homes were built for good water," Carolyn Myhre said. "Our health is at issue even though they say they meet all the health requirements. We want a guarantee that we won't get put on this water again."
Developers suggested storing surface water in aquifers a few years ago, when Roseville city officials were considering annexing more than 3,000 acres for a proposed housing project.
In addition to making sure the city had enough surface water to accommodate the new development during wet years, Environmental Utilities Director Derrick Whitehead said he also looked at what would happen if there was a drought.
"We ask people to reduce their usage, but we also need to make some of that up with groundwater," Whitehead said.
Although this technique has been used in places such as Santa Barbara, Goleta and Las Vegas, this apparently is a first for Northern California.
Since 1971, when Roseville began contracting with the Placer County Water Agency, the city's water has come primarily from Folsom Lake surface water.
Every winter, the federal Bureau of Reclamation releases Folsom Lake water into the American River for flood control purposes, and Roseville officials want to capture it instead.
"What we've been trying to do is capitalize on the excess water that's available, and doing something with that water instead of just letting it go down the river," Whitehead said. "If you're going to dump that water anyway, why can't we treat it and store it in the ground?"
In 2003, the city completed the first of three new wells, and last year more than 250 million gallons of treated surface water was injected into the aquifer.
Last July, Roseville began delivering stored water to customers as part of an eight-month trial. That's when some Sun City Roseville residents began noticing problems.
"The water tasted really bad, and it smelled bad, too," said Myhre, 65.
Other residents reported having hard-water stains on their dishes, shower doors, countertops and sink fixtures, as well as damaged water heaters and dishwashers.
"It leaves water stains everywhere. It's ruining everything," Linda Manion said. "A friend of mine had to have the filter on her fridge replaced because minerals from the water kept clogging it up.
"This is our quality of life. We're exposed to water everyday."
Manion and her husband switched to drinking bottled water after she read a study that raised concerns about chlorinated surface water being mixed with water in aquifers.
Chemical byproducts are known carcinogenics, which the Department of Health Services allows in low concentrations.
Whitehead and Water Utility Manager Ed Kriz said the city carefully monitored the groundwater, and it met all health and safety standards.
"We're empathetic to the fact that it was a change they were able to notice in their water," Kriz said. "We're doing more monitoring than required, and we're continuing to confirm that the water meets all the regulatory requirements. It's just different."
Whitehead pointed out that about 60 percent of the Sacramento region gets drinking water from the ground.
He added that it has been Roseville's long-standing policy to use groundwater as a backup source when surface water is in short supply.
"If you look at how much available storage is underneath the Sacramento area, it's basically equivalent to the water in the Folsom Lake reservoir," Whitehead said.
The opportunity to capitalize on the available water storage has other water districts in the region keeping close eye on Roseville's progress.
"Developing water supplies in innovative ways will help increase the reliability of water here in California," Kriz said. "I think this is the future. We're going to see more of this as opposed to less."
Roseville is currently working with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board to obtain a long-term permit to use the groundwater.
The city's trial ended in February, but 38 Sun City residents signed a letter and petition asking for a guarantee that they won't be put back on ground- water.
"If there's a drought, and it's either this water or no water, of course, we'll do what we have to do. But I think there's a better solution," Myhre said.
Myhre and Manion will meet with environmental utilities officials to discuss their concerns.
In the meantime, Myhre plans to start a Web site where residents can post their groundwater experiences.
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