The solution to the Los Olivos wastewater dilemma may sit with Solvang, according to the years of research trying to flush out the best, least expensive methods to replace the unincorporated community’s problematic septic tanks. 

A key meeting is set to occur this week as the Los Olivos Community Services District continues to inch toward finalizing a plan for handling wastewater.

The workshop is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Los Olivos Grange Hall, 2374 Alamo Pintado Ave., followed by a CSD board meeting.

“This could be the most important meeting of the year,” Los Olivos CSD leaders said in notifying the community about the upcoming event. 

Since the 1970s, the Los Olivos area has been designated a special problem area because of groundwater issues linked to septic tanks in the small community.

With an eye toward local control, voters approved the formation of the Community Services District in 2018 to craft a solution to replace septic tanks for wastewater amid threats from regulators, including the Regional Water Quality Control District. The vote added a small assessment to fund studies and costs related to the new district effort to find wastewater treatment solution.

The Los Olivos district has 372 parcels with 40 being commercial properties and 332 residential sites.

Since the CSD’s formation, the board has drilled wells to monitor groundwater and researched methods and technology for transitioning away from septic tanks for wastewater.

“Very simply, this is what we’re trying to accomplish — figure out how to collect it, treat it and dispose of it,” Julie Kennedy, CSD board president, told the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission last month in getting another two-year extension.

The CSD board’s research determined that sending the wastewater to the Solvang plant instead of building — and operating — a Los Olivos facility could be the least expensive and most easy option to address the long-term wastewater needs.

Community concerns have centered on cost of construction and ongoing operations, ownership, plant location, odors and viewshed impacts.

A “local” option for Los Olivos would range from $46.7 million to $53 million depending on the treatment and disposal happening in the district. It also would need to find property to place the facilities, likely to lead to challenges from neighbors not eager to have a treatment plant near them. 

One big worry involved finding a solution that wouldn’t induce growth in the Santa Ynez Valley. 

After declining initially, Solvang since has agreed to consider accepting the Los Olivos wastewater as the city looks to upgrade its treatment plant.

“This design is in consideration of taking on their waste as well,” Solvang Utilities Director Jose Acosta told the Solvang council last month in a brief discussion about Los Olivos. 

The cost of the Solvang option with treatment and disposal would run from $38 million to $45.4 million for Los Olivos CSD property owners. The Solvang solution would see a pipeline installed along Alamo Pintado Road to carry wastewater from Los Olivos to the city’s treatment plant connecting Sunny Fields Park. 

Kennedy told LAFCO that the pipe from Los Olivos to Solvang would belong to the Los Olivos CSD so no one else could plug into the system.   

“That addresses a major concern of the community, which is the growth, creating some sort of unbridled growth for treatment of our wastewater,” Kennedy said.

During Wednesday’s workshop, the CSD’s leaders will spell out the options for collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater while gathering feedback from the community. 

Upon presenting the options and costs, the Los Olivos CSD board expects to decide on the project description no later than its June meeting, but possibly as soon as this week. 

“We’re coming up to this critical decision,” Kennedy said.

With the description crafted, the board will contract for a consultant to design the project and prepare an environmental analysis of the solution plus alternatives.

Sometime in 2026, the CSD could conduct the Proposition 218 vote asking property owners to approve an assessment to pay for the cost for handing wastewater in the future. The assessment would be added to the tax bills.

The decision in the coming weeks on the design will lead to an answer for a key question: How much will this cost property owners?

“We really won’t know the true cost of this until we get a more detailed design and then maybe even an opinion from a contractor,” Tom Fayram, a CSD board member, said at their April meeting.