The ordinance would allow the board to create by
resolution advisory committees in each groundwater
basin, with the board expressing its intent recently to
start in the Scott Valley.
Scott Valley resident and member of the group Protect
Our Waters (POW) Liz Bowen asked the board at Tuesday’s
meeting to not pass the ordinance, which she feels is
“redundant and creates another level of beauracracy.”
“I look at this as a proactive move by the
county,” District 3 Supervisor Michael Kobseff stated in
response, citing the groundwater issues coming to the
forefront for counties statewide.
One issue involving the county directly is the
Environmental Law Foundation v. State Water Resources
Control Board, in which the county is named as a
defendant, in a case where the plaintiffs seek to have
groundwater regulation defined as a duty under the
public trust.
Board Chair Marcia Armstrong noted a groundwater study
that has been conducted by a student from the University
of California, Davis campus that she said is heading to
the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in
October. She explained that she believes that local
landowners have not had input on the study and that the
county does not have control over the information.
The logic behind creating the advisory committees has
been touched upon at previous meetings and again at
Tuesday’s meeting, with Natural Resources Policy
Specialist Ric Costales stating that the committee is
intended to provide community input on board decisions,
with committee members monitoring and tracking
groundwater issues in the county. It was also noted at
the meeting that the committee would have no regulatory
authority.
Bowen, however, told the board that she considered the
committee to potentially be a “Trojan Horse,” allowing
state agencies an opportunity to wrest control of the
group away from the public.
County Counsel Thomas Guarino explained that with the
committees created under ordinance and resolution, a
change to their structure can only be done through the
public hearing process before the board.
Bowen’s final concern expressed in her discussion with
the board was the potential makeup of the committee,
which she believes should have members of POW involved,
due to that group’s distrust of other water users groups
in the valley.
Armstrong noted that anyone can apply for the committee,
which by resolution would have 13 members representing
various regions within the Scott River groundwater
basin.
The board chose to support District 1 Supervisor Jim
Cook’s motion to hold the first reading on September 21,
with two readings required before the ordinance can be
adopted.
