San Mateo County will require quarterly water testing at farmworker housing after task force found bacteria in more than half of systems

Farmworkers living in employer-provided housing in rural San Mateo County will get regular checks on their drinking water. On Oct. 20, the Board of Supervisors approved a Farm Labor Housing Water System Inspection Program covering 32 small water systems that serve 49 farmworker housing units in unincorporated areas.

Closing a gap in the rules

State rules generally require testing and inspections only for water systems with five or more service connections. Before this change, the county could step in at smaller systems mainly when conditions posed an imminent health hazard, according to a county staff report published by Coastside Buzz.

Under the new program, operators must test for coliform and E. coli bacteria every three months, meet standards for water quality, quantity and pressure, and allow regular county inspections. Owners must fix imminent health hazards in their systems. The program is part of an update to the county's Domestic Water Systems Ordinance, which dates to 1977 and takes effect Nov. 19.

What the task force found

The program grew out of the county's response to the Jan. 23, 2023, shootings at two Coastside farms that killed seven farmworkers. A multi-department Farmworker Housing Compliance Task Force found that 56 of the 124 active agricultural and ranch operations in the unincorporated county provide 145 farmworker housing units for an estimated 356 workers, according to the staff report.

The task force tested 38 water systems that weren't already under state monitoring. Twenty-one, or 55%, tested positive for coliform or E. coli. Inspectors required disinfection, repairs or treatment systems and issued boil-water notices where appropriate. The county says follow-up testing confirmed the water was safe.

"The Task Force showed us that unsafe drinking water was the most common problem these families faced," said Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose district includes the coast.

Who pays

The board set the annual permit fee at $1,706 per system. Because many operators are small family businesses, the County Executive's Office will subsidize the fee while the program phases in. The county developed the rules with input from the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council, the San Mateo County Farm Bureau and the county's Agricultural Advisory Committee.