A hydro-geologist has called for tens of thousands of dollar’s worth of further testing to be done to determine if an irrigation well built in 2009 by the Bolinas Community Public Utility District can be safely converted into another source of drinking water, prompting district officials to discuss whether they have the budget for it. In a report delivered last week, hydro-geologist Robert Gailey cautioned that the well—located at the Resource Recovery Center—could face seawater intrusion if more pumping occurs beyond the well’s two functions: to support activities at Resource Recovery and to irrigate the ball fields at Mesa Park. The district hired Mr. Gailey in 2012 to assess whether the 200-foot-deep well could be turned into a source of emergency drinking water in addition to the district’s two reservoirs and the Arroyo Hondo Creek. He recommended that the district install three shallow monitoring wells and conduct multiple surveys of marshy areas and underground channels that hold and flush seawater during tides. But the president of the district’s board of directors, Jack Siedman, said the cost to follow through with Mr. Gailey’s recommendations—which could rise to $100,000 or more—might be out of the district’s budget. “We don’t know if the district can afford to use district money to pursue the kind of monitoring he wants,” he said. “But we believe there may be state grants for groundwater monitoring projects.” He said that the district’s operations committee would meet next month with Mr. Gailey before the board makes any decisions. Despite the steep bill, the district’s general manager, Jennifer Blackman, speculated that there could be long-term benefits to a drinking well. “Groundwater is much less expensive to work with because surface water picks up contaminants and other materials,” she said. “That being said, any wells in the coastal zone need to be looked at very closely for seawater intrusion.”