Joint Multi-Million
Dollar Project
Crippling
droughts in the late 1980s and early 1990s gave urgency to long
established plans by 30 water suppliers, including Montecito Water
District, to construct an X mile long, $600 million pipeline to
bring water from the State Water Project to Lake Cachuma.
Montecito Water District decided to
participate in the State Water Project after conducting an
intensive community debate. Two public elections confirmed public
support for the project. The investment in imported water will
continue to provide an invaluable drought backup supply that
protects citizens of Montecito. |
The
Water System: Hidden
Turn
a tap anytime, on any day, and water comes rushing out. Water
delivery is so effortless and reliable that few stop to think of
the millions of dollars in facilities and round-the-clock effort
by water professionals that are required.
Montecito Water District has its own extensive local water
system but also participates in the operation of the Lake Cachuma
water system, receives water treatment from the City of Santa
Barbara, and owns a share in the pipelines and treatment
facilities that connect Montecito to the statewide water system.
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One of the most fascinating
elements of the Cachuma Lake Project is Tecolote Tunnel, a
seven-foot diameter, six-mile long pipeline, bored straight
through the mountains.
The tunnel, which brings
water from Lake Cachuma to the coast, required years of work
and gained the reputation as a "snarling, vicious
tiger." Work was stopped repeatedly by massive flooding
in the tunnel, extreme temperatures as high as 111°,dangerous
levels of methane gas, and hard rock that shifted and crushed
support beams.
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100–degree
tunnel temperatures, aggravated by 117-degree water from
underground fissures, forced workers to be transported in
"bathtubs"— mine cars filled with cool water.
These baths were used by the overheated men to cool themselves
by riding up to their necks in water, fully clothed. |
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