Voters' group critical of county's groundwater plan
Chico Enterprise Record - 8/7/03
By Heather Hacking, staff writer

OROVILLE - The League of Women voters pressed the Water Commission this week to hammer out more details of a planned groundwater management program.

The League isn't happy with what they perceive as inadequacies in the plan and not enough safeguards for groundwater quality and supply.

In his presentation to the board, Bruce Smith, natural resource chair for the League, told the water commission that the current draft of the groundwater plan is "fatally flawed."

Butte County is trying to come up with a program of well monitoring to set up laws that prohibit pumping in one area of the county from affecting the groundwater supply in other areas. Glenn County began a similar program in 2000.

In Glenn County, water users agreed to set up 17 sub-monitoring groups. If a well suddenly appeared to go dry, the smaller group would try to track down the cause. If that group couldn't come up with a solution,
they'd take it to a larger water advisory group.

Toccoy Dudley, from the Department of Water Resources, has been working with both Butte and Glenn counties on their groundwater management plans. Meanwhile he's been conducting studies to try and understand how the different layers of soil channel water from the surface to underground aquifers.

Since Glenn County's up-and-running groundwater management plan is the only one in the state, he modeled the draft Butte County plan after Glenn County.

That's part of where the League disagrees with Butte County's Water Department.

Smith told the Water Commission Tuesday that Butte and Glenn County are too different to try and copy Glenn County's plan.

While Glenn County is sparsely populated and primarily agricultural, Butte County is more urban and has a wider variety of land uses, he said.

Glenn County operates on relatively loose regulations. Each sub-area came up with its own criteria for what is overuse of the groundwater. The League wants Butte County to have stricter environmental/scientific
standards.

The League has been studying Butte County's proposed plans for many months and has spent hours and hours going over the details. Smith's presentation and discussion lasted for more than hour, but that only
scratched the surface of the comments the League has compiled, Smith said.

Vickie Newlin, manager of water and resource conservation for the county, said the management plan is still a work in progress and a lot of the comments submitted by the League and others need legal review by
assistant county counsel Rob MacKenzie. MacKenzie said he won't have time to do that until next month's Water Commission meeting.

The League also wants penalties for over-tapping the groundwater to be clearly defined. Butte County hasn't done this yet.

Smith said the League thinks a groundwater monitoring program is very important, but the members want all of these details worked out. Smith suggested more meetings to be held so everyone can talk these issues
through.

Water Commission chairman Mark Kimmelshue balked at the idea of over-scrutinizing the not-yet-completed plan. He said the county needs to "get something on the books" to protect groundwater, and that there
are still several meeting planned before anything final is adopted.

He urged the League to present specific language changes so the Water Commission could think it over.

The next step is for the Board of Supervisors to receive a briefing on the status of the proposal. That will take place next month.

The Board of Supervisors has the final say, since the Water Commission is only an advisory group.

But the League wants the Water Commission to become more active on the development of the proposal.

Pat Zwicker, a League member from Paradise, pleaded strongly to the Commission to get more involved.

"You are entrusted to manage water for the citizens of Butte County," she said.

"We're looking for policy, direction and dynamism."

In a stern, grandmotherly tone, Zwicker told the Commissioners that water is extremely important to the county.

"You've been given this power. I want you to exercise it."

At the end she softened her chastisement by thanking the commissioners for their hard work and addressing each of them in a friendly way.

Chico Enterprise Record - Copyright Policy