SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Del Paso Manor Water District is under fire by the Sacramento County Grand Jury due to a wave of concerns ranging from water contamination to aging infrastructure and even not complying with California's monitoring requirements.
According to a Sacramento County's news release, the formal complaint comes after a seven-month investigation into the water district. County officials say that the water district failed to complete $35 million in repairs and upgrades that could lead to potential failure for the entire water complex.
The county says a grand jury reviewed thousands of pages of documents while conducting interviews to learn of a water district in "disarray" with four general managers resigning in two years. A majority of the board of directors also walked away from their positions in 2021.
Both commercial and residential customers might not know their water comes from just two wells that are funneled through 60-year-old pipelines, according to Sacramento County.
The State of California Water Resources Board Division of Drinking Water cited the water district for a violation for failing to let customers know of a contaminated well.
The water district is running on a water master plan and municipal service review that are more than a decade old, according to Grand Jury Foreperson Deanna Hanson.
"The idea that officials are doing business 'behind the floodgates' so to speak does a disservice to the public and its right to understand the impact of vital safety issues as well as the looming financial impacts," Hanson said in a news release.
