Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley is recommending the county keep a septic tank moratorium in the Beaumont/Cherry Valley area in place for six more months while agencies look for funds to finance a more in-depth groundwater study.

If the study does not proceed, he suggests the moratorium on new installations be repealed, according to a recommendation on the agenda for Tuesday's supervisors meeting.

The board meets at 9 a.m. at the County Administrative Center in Riverside.

Supervisors will receive a report from a committee set up by the board last year to review technical data about groundwater quality in the rural area. The committee of residents was advised by technical experts.

A 2006 scientific study blamed septic tanks for spikes in nitrate pollution found in some drinking-water wells, leading to the moratorium on new septic tanks that November.

But the committee recently concluded that the moratorium may have been premature and that the nitrate levels were not indicative of the aquifer quality.

Committee Chairman Bruce Cash, who lives in San Timoteo Canyon, said he approved of Ashley's recommendation.

"We think that is a prudent step for the Board of Supervisors to take and we believe that a more comprehensive study of that region is necessary," he said.

Luwana Ryan, of Cherry Valley, committee vice chair woman, called Ashley's suggestion a "reasonable request" but doubts money for a study will be found quickly, given the economy.

Reach Gail Wesson at 951-763-3455 or gwesson@PE.com