Where: Castroville, California
Issue: Castroville needed to access funding for water and wastewater improvements
Outcome: RCAC surveyed Castroville’s Median Household Income (MHI) to demonstrate that it is eligible to apply for grant funding

Castroville is a farming community in Monterey County that has struggled to obtain grant funding for its water infrastructure and other facilities. The town’s Community Services District provides potable water and wastewater services to homes and businesses, a population of about 7,200 with 2,200 service connections. The district receives 100 percent of its water from ground-water that is at risk for seawater intrusion.

Until 2016, Castroville was ineligible to apply for various federal and state government funding because, while most residents are low-income, the 2011-2015 American Community Survey indicated the town’s MHI was above the federal threshold. However, because census data for small rural communities can be inadequate as estimates are more reliable for larger geographic areas with more population, city leaders decided to challenge this finding. They asked RCAC to conduct an independent door-to-door survey, which ultimately demonstrated that Castroville is in fact a severely disadvantaged community (SDAC). This finding now enables Castroville to apply for grant funding for water and wastewater system upgrades. Grant funding, as opposed to loan funding that needs to be paid back with interest and fees, can make the difference between affordable and unaffordable drinking water.

RCAC staff, according to Castroville’s general manager, J. Eric Tynan, “was instrumental in not only guiding us through the study but also bringing the study to a successful conclusion. For a small rural community, with limited resources, I cannot express enough how important this study was for our community and our district.”