HTO helped facilitate a partnership between the Santa Ynez Community Services District (SYCSD) and Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services for $150,000 funding for an engineering plan to hook up sewer service for 383 parcels in the West Santa Ynez area. With hundreds of septic systems on crowded lots and unsuitable soils, the level of nitrates is rising in groundwater. HTO’s outreach to homeowners has generally been met with a positive response. Annexation of the area into SYCSD was approved by LAFCO on May 5, 2016 (with extensive HTO advocacy), and now costs can be worked out and homeowners can vote whether or not to connect. The West Santa Ynez Septic-to-Sewer Project is an ongoing process that Heal the Ocean continues to work on today.