TWIN FALLS -- A Twin Falls area of impact neighborhood has a Dec. 31 deadline to decide what to do about its latest drinking water problem.

Located on the northeast side of town, the 66 homes in the Desert View neighborhood have never been hooked up to the city's water or sewer systems. Some residents have their own wells. Twenty-seven of the households share a community well. A high groundwater table coupled with septic tanks in close proximity to wells has resulted in problems over the years with pollution in drinking water for some who have their own wells. So, many use filtering systems or buy bottled drinking water, resident Rod Mathis said.

But now the neighborhood is facing yet another drinking-water problem: excessive arsenic.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined certain amounts of arsenic in drinking water cause bladder and lung cancer and aggravate nervous disorders.

The issue of excessive arsenic in drinking water is one with which several Idaho communities are facing. In its final days, the Clinton administration lowered the standard of arsenic in drinking water to one-fifth the previously acceptable level. The Bush administration left the new standard in place, giving some 1,100 community water systems in Western states until 2006 to clean up their water.

In the state of Idaho, five counties -- Twin Falls, Owyhee, Canyon, Payette and Washington -- have many public drinking water systems above the new arsenic standard. In fact, the city of Twin Falls is working with the EPA to meet the new standard.

The new regulation does not apply to wells being used by fewer than 15 households or 25 people. Reverse osmosis filtering systems are often used to filter out arsenic, but the EPA only accepts filtering where the water comes out of the ground for community systems, not where the water is accessed at each household, said Lance Bates, an assistant city engineer for Twin Falls.

In other words, the 27 households in the Desert View Drive neighborhood using the community well are in trouble.

The owners of the well have notified the neighbors they are shutting the water off on Dec. 31.

"This is not just a ho-hum deal," said resident Dale Quigley. "This is a huge deal."

It becomes a huge deal because though the arsenic levels in the community well are only slightly higher than the EPA's mandated standard, it could cost upwards of $500,000 for the neighbors to come up with their own arsenic-compliant system, Quigley said.

The neighborhood is discussing options.

One solution might be for neighbors in the entire subdivision to finally become part of the city, which means annexation. With annexation come city services such as sewer and water, but also city taxes.

The property tax increase would average between 40 to 50 percent, Mathis said. In addition, each homeowner who decides to hook up to the city system would have foot the bill for his plumbing and hook-up.

Other options involve neighbors sharing individual wells. In addition, people could drill their own wells if they have enough space to meet state regulations for setbacks from neighboring septic tanks.

Quigley, who has his own well, said he likes the idea of hooking up with the city system because of its dependability.

Though Twin Falls won't actually meet the new arsenic standards by 2006, it's working with the federal government to get a system in place over the next few years and reduce cost per household by spreading the cost over the entire population.

But also, the city strongly encourages new subdivisions, which are springing up around Desert View, to be annexed before development even begins. As far as Quigley is concerned, that is just one more reason for the Desert View neighborhood to vote for annexation.

"It kind of makes sense, too, because before long 360 degrees around our little neighborhood we're going to be surrounded by city of Twin Falls subdivisions," he said.

So far, two-thirds of the neighbors have signed a letter of intent saying they want to study the annexation idea further, Quigley said.

"That is a pretty good indication of the level of interest," Quigley said. "Now we're in a situation where we are asking people to become serious and state their preferences on what utilities are brought in."

Mathis emphasized that hooking up to the city's utilities will be voluntary. Yet at the same time the more people who go with the city system, the less it will cost everyone who does, he pointed out.

Times-News writer Julie Pence can be reached at 735-3241 or by e-mail at jpence@magicvalley.com.

Systems affected by arsenic Many local public drinking-water systems around Magic Valley have had arsenic measurements above federal standards during the past year. They include: * City of Buhl * City of Castleford * Clover Trinity Lutheran School * Desert View Subdivision * Elm Park Water System (Twin Falls) * Filer Water Works * Rock Creek Mobile Manor * Lighthouse Christian Fellowship * Meander Point Subdivision (Twin Falls) * Deep Creek Mennonite School * Cabin Creek Mobile Home Community (Twin Falls County) * City of Twin Falls * United States Department of Agriculture Research Center (Kimberly) * Kanaka Rapids Ranch Water System Inc. (Twin Falls County) * SeaPac of Idaho Inc. (Twin Falls County) Source: Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.