Whenever Diablo Grande resident Stephanie Stevens runs a bath or fills a watering can at her house, a thick film forms on the surface of the water.
“There is a brown something that comes out of our water every time we turn it on,” she said Tuesday.
 Something unusual: A Black Oak Drive homeowner says tap water left this crusty film on her refrigerator-door water dispenser. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator
Local residents received notice earlier this year that their water contains an excessive amount of trihalomethanes, which can cause cancer and other problems if consumed over a period of many years.
Some residents have reported symptoms ranging from numbness to nosebleeds and wonder if the water is to blame.
Nearly 60 people showed up at the Diablo Grande homeowners association meeting Tuesday to demand answers about water concerns, less than a week after the state cited developers for being out of compliance with California water standards.
“This has gone on for years and years and years, and they’ve known about it,” one resident said at the meeting. “Fix it!”
Diablo Grande, which stands about 8 miles southwest of Patterson amidst the Diablo hills, comprises about 460 homes, two golf courses and vineyards in Oak Flat Valley. There also are plans for a hotel, spa, shopping center, revamped winery and business park.
Diablo Grande’s legally approved 2,250-acre first phase could include as many as 1,341 homes. However, developers eventually hope to build 5,000 homes on 33,000 acres.
Health worries
Diablo Grande resident Mark Weller, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said by phone earlier this month that he began experiencing a whole host of ill effects about two months after moving to the developing community. Those include numbness, dizziness, heart palpitations, migraine headaches and dry skin. His wife also has had health problems, he said.
Fellow resident Barbara Maybee said Tuesday that her husband, Bill, has migraines, and her daughter has constant nosebleeds.
Weller said he doesn’t know whether Diablo Grande’s water is the culprit behind those problems, but he and others advocated for independent testing to find out.
Past notices from the state have said the community’s problems with trihalomethanes do not pose an immediate health risk, but many people at Tuesday’s meeting were still worried.
Trihalomethanes are a group of chemicals formed when chlorine used to treat water for bacteria and other compounds reacts with natural organic materials in the water.
They can lead to cancer and cause liver, kidney and central nervous system problems if consumed over a period of many years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Some studies also have indicated that they may cause birth defects in pregnant women.
Stevens said she had a miscarriage in January, and she wondered after the meeting whether it might have been related to Diablo Grande’s water.
Resident Kristina Ross-Ortiz has talked several times with a state public health services official and has done some research on her own. She said information about water issues was not disclosed to residents before they bought their homes, because the state Department of Real Estate was not aware about potential problems.
Ross-Ortiz said she plans to fight until the situation is improved.
“I’m going to be here ’til the end — unless I die from it,” she said.
More talks to come
Even as the homeowners association board listened to residents’ complaints, representatives said Western Hills Water District is the agency that can do something about the situation, not the homeowners group.
The district, which provides water solely for Diablo Grande, is supported through Mello-Roos bond funding.
The homeowners association board plans to met with water district officials on Friday afternoon. Results of that meeting were not available as of press time.
Clifford Treese, chief operating officer of the Christison Co., which manages Diablo Grande’s homeowner’s association, noted that the water district has received less revenue than initially anticipated, because so many homes are now vacant. He told attendees an increase in water rates may be discussed this week as a result.
Many audience members groaned in response.
“We’re going to pay more for contaminated water?” Ross-Ortiz remarked by phone after the meeting.
Dwain Sanders, vice president of development for Diablo Grande and president of the Western Hills Water District, was present Tuesday as a representative on the homeowners association board. However, he remained silent about the water situation.
He said by phone afterward that because he was there with the homeowners association, he thought it was not appropriate to speak on water issues.
‘A fixable problem’
Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini, who attended the meeting, said he had talked with an official from the state Department of Health Services, and he said the state is aware of the issue.
“This thing is a fixable problem,” DeMartini said.
In fact, the health services department fined the district $1,000 on June 20 for being out of compliance. The notice indicated that the water district had consistently remained out of compliance with trihalomethanes since late 2004, with the exception of a 9-month stretch in late 2006 and early 2007.
The state recommended the installation of a new system that would treat the water with chloramines — a combination of chlorine and ammonia — and remove trihalomethanes and called for the water to be treated with powdered activated carbon in the meantime.
The citation noted that water district and health services officials had met in February, but the water district had not formally communicated with the department since that time.
DeMartini wondered whether Diablo Grande developers would be able to pay for the new treatment system, as the development going through bankruptcy proceedings.
However, Sanders said the water district plans to comply with the state citation. Engineering work already has begun on a new treatment system, and Diablo Grande’s water will be treated with carbon immediately.
In addition, the water district will use aggressive flushing to remove contaminants, he said.
“A lot of things are going on behind the scenes to get the district back in compliance,” Sanders said.
Meanwhile, several residents said this week they will take things into their own hands if no changes are made by way of a class action lawsuit.
Ross-Ortiz, who is among those leading the charge, said she fears for the safety of her 2-year-old son and will do whatever it takes to improve the water situation.
“My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a mom,” she said. “This is my life’s dream, and I don’t want that taken away from me.
To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Is there a buyer or are they going from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7?
If it's Chapter 7, will the golf courses be shut down?
Can someone please report on this?