Contra Costa moves to end local oversight of some small water systems, raises fees for smallest systems

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Oct. 7 to direct county staff to terminate the county's Local Primacy Agency (LPA) delegation agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board and to adopt higher permit fees for the smallest non-public small water systems regulated locally.

The action follows a presentation by Christian Lucas, Environmental Health director, who told the board the county currently administers an LPA program for public small water systems serving between 15 and 199 service connections and oversees an additional 34 non-public systems that serve fewer customers. Lucas said the county's 75 LPA-regulated systems must either absorb substantially higher local permit fees or be returned to state regulation, where economies of scale keep fees lower.

Why it matters: Lucas and staff argued that, because the county regulates a relatively small number of these systems, the local fee increases required to fund continued oversight would be large (some proposed increases ranged from about 160% to nearly 360% in staff modeling) and would likely be borne by operators and ultimately by customers in often disadvantaged communities.

What the board decided: Supervisors approved a motion to (a) adopt the revised fee schedule for non-public small water systems (the county's "local" small water system permit fee would move from $348 to $474; the "state" small water system fee from $522 to $910 per the staff recommendation if the LPA remains), and (b) to notify the State Water Resources Control Board that the county will terminate its LPA delegation agreement effective at the end of the current permit year in February 2026. Staff said the county will continue to regulate the systems through February 2026 and will provide a phased "warm handoff" to state regulators.

Board discussion and next steps: Supervisors asked staff to provide maps showing where the small water systems are located in each supervisorial district and to coordinate outreach to impacted operators, including individual letters, phone calls and on-site visits where needed. Lucas said staff would email and mail individualized notices, supply contact information for state regulators, and work with the state on possible technical support or funding for disadvantaged systems. He said the county must give the state at least 120 daysformal notice before termination of the delegation agreement.

The board approved the recommendations unanimously; staff will implement the outreach plan and return if further direction is needed.

Ending: Staff emphasized that state oversight does not mean lesser public-health protections; Lucas said the state applies the same regulatory standards and can offer broader technical and funding resources for disadvantaged communities that the county cannot easily provide.