Somewhere in the mists of Covid, local journalism ran out of resources, meetings were all done over problematic Zoom links, and Butte County got gerrymandered to subtract just enough votes from Debra Lucero to toss her election to a Chico police sergeant who has promised he will not leave his old job while taking a salary as Butte County Supervisor.
These are the mists from which the Tuscan Water District emerged.
Lucero was very vocal in her criticism of this project, and some of us would have never heard a thing about it if she hadn't articulated all its problems on her Facebook feed. And now here we are, being asked to participate in an election that is obviously designed to put a patina of democracy on what amounts to the slow-moving privatization of the water in our wells.
There will be much more information to come on this. For now, here's something from a friend:
First, we don’t need a new government agency (which Tuscan will be). The $10 per acre per year assessment on the ballot is just to open the doors of a new government agency and to repay the organizers an undisclosed amount of their formation costs, currently estimated at $1M. If approved, you are going to be paying the cost of this election. Once the Tuscan is formed, it will be very difficult to get rid of it. Your grandkids will be paying Tuscan Water District assessments. And for what?
Second, the principal purpose of forming the Tuscan is to “purvey water” according to their application. They seem to be to put the new governmental agency in a position to acquire surface water rights from the Paradise Irrigation District, and perhaps to move Table A water down to the valley floor in the pipe constructed to move the PID water. If Tuscan acquires that water or builds that pipe, it can only collect funds to finance all that construction from landowners benefitted in the proposed Tuscan Water District, i.e., from you. $100M is the estimated construction cost of a water pipe across the district, which translates to bond payments of $34 per acre per year for the next 20 years. This cost is in addition to the cost of the actual water and the cost to operate and maintain the pipeline. But moving PID water to the valley floor would most logically benefit Cal Water, which provides service to Chico’s 110,000 residents. Why should you pay the cost of easing the City of Chico’s water crunch?
Third, there is no “need” for a California water district to implement the Vina GSP. Butte County has the responsibility, under SGMA, to execute a groundwater plan over “white areas” in the county. That could be exercised by the Board of Supervisors (through the existing Department of Water Resources and Conservation, or county Resource Conservation District), through the existing Vina GSA (groundwater sustainability agency), or the existing Rock Creek Reclamation District GSA. The claim that county agencies don’t have the capacity to do this is bunk. Vina GSA is currently looking for money for on-going operations and GSP expenses. Rock Creek Reclamation District just held an election seeking $16.25 per acre assessment for GSP expenses. Tuscan’s boundaries overlay both Vina GSA and Rock Creek, so landowners are guaranteed to be funding duplicated government agencies. With a $5 an acre assessment to Vina subbasin landowners, the County could fund the same new staff that Tuscan would have hired, and that staff would be managed by far more “representative” boards that could not be challenged in court.
Butte County doesn’t need more government. Don’t pay to fix a problem that belongs to all of Butte County. Demand our government do the job we are already paying them to do. Vote NO on Tuscan Water District.
No comments:
Post a Comment