A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 11, 2009
2. Supply –
Judge rules against water district on wells
The
Ordinance limits water use for growers in
The Ventura County-Star
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Judge rules against water district on wells
The
By Julia Scott
MONTARA — The future growth of the urban Midcoast has been thrown into doubt by a recent federal court ruling that prevented a Coastside water supply agency from taking possession of three groundwater wells on which its customers rely.
The Montara Water and Sanitary District, serving 5,000 residents of Montara and
The Federal Aviation Administration intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of
Midcoast residents, who live south of Devil's Slide, have always depended on well water — their own or the district's — rather than a connection to the Hetch Hetchy reservoir like their neighbors in Half Moon Bay.
The lack of reliable groundwater has kept the water district from adding any new customers for more than 30 years.
Meanwhile, at least four private wells have failed and one is failing, said Paul Percovic, president of the board of directors of the Montara Water and Sanitary District.
"We have always had a goal of developing new water sources," he said. "Without these, any likelihood of having the moratorium lifted in the short term has been shot down."
He would not say whether the board plans to appeal the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
The district took the unusual step of beginning eminent domain proceedings against the county in 2007, when the county refused to hand over title of the wells, which line a patch of grass along the outer boundary of the airport near Highway 1.
The district had discovered that the contract with which it had leased the land since 1948 could be canceled on six months' notice. That caused the district to lose a loan from the California Department of Health Services for some important water treatment upgrades.
Chief Deputy County Counsel Deborah Penny Bennett said the water district never needed to take the county to court; neither the county nor the FAA "ever had any interest in cutting off the supply of water to the coast."
Furthermore, Bennett said, the lawsuit itself set a troubling precedent.
"If the Montara Water and Sanitary District can come along and take a piece of the county's property such as the Half Moon Bay Airport, an important public resource, what's to stop other agencies from doing the same?" she asked, rhetorically. "The whole idea underlying this was very problematic."
Losing the lawsuit will not likely result in any loss of well access at the airport, which provides the district with approximately 60 percent of its raw drinking water.
It's unclear whether the district will still be required to pay the county an annual extraction fee of $60,000 or whether the FAA will charge more, which could result in higher water rates for customers.
The airport well water does contain pollutants, including nitrates and tricresyl phosphates (the latter comes from a gasoline additive used by old airplanes).
The water district had hoped to win the lawsuit and begin treating the water with a more state-of-the-art facility than the one in place, as well as build two storage tanks to hold extra water the district was hoping to coax out of the ground.
Two years ago, district directors celebrated the commissioning of a new well in the lower reaches of
Instead the future looks to be status quo — perhaps with the addition of a few homes whose own wells have failed and need a rescue, according to Percovic.
The district is also exploring other sources of freshwater such as building a desalination plant, or a less-expensive alternative such as taking part in a coastwide water recycling effort. #
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_11881983
Ordinance limits water use for growers in
Reflecting the effect of the state’s water shortage on local farmers and ranchers, an emergency ordinance is limiting the amount of water used by growers in the
The ordinance was passed at the end of February by the Ventura County Watershed Protection District through the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency.
The ordinance covers the northeast section of the
The new policy, which took effect immediately, is needed to “prevent a worsening of the groundwater overdraft in the aquifer systems,” the agency said in a written statement.
“It really amounts to a cooling off period of a year,” said Gerhardt Hubner, director of the county Watershed Protection District. “It puts a cap on any new well digging in the
The ordinance, which will expire Jan. 1, 2010, also sets a limit of four acre-feet of water, or 1.3 million gallons per acre, to be used by the area’s farmers.
Many of the affected farmers and ranchers attended the meeting at the
“What we’re trying to avoid is a dramatic shift in water usage in the area where we run out of water in the aquifer,” said Don Kendall, general manager of the Calleguas district. “We’re working with farmers in the area to avoid just that scenario.”
“In abundant rainfall years, we can import water from the (
The recent meeting was an opportunity for farmers to emphasize their concerns.
“Some of the farmers and ranchers who’ve been here the longest argued that they had water rights as part of their property rights, that they could use as much water as they wanted because it was theirs,” said Donald Tschirhart, an avocado and lemon grower on Bradley Road in Somis. “But there’s only so much water in the aquifers and if we run out — well, it’s not going to matter who’s got what rights, is it?”
Tschirhart indicated that the original plan called for the ordinance to allow farmers only two acre-feet of water per acre for irrigation.
“But then during discussion, they changed it to four acre-feet. That got people calmed down pretty well,” he said.
Esper Petersen’s ranch, also in Somis, grows raspberries, strawberries, avocados and lemons. He also raises Black Angus cattle on his ranch just off
“I had been working diligently on a well application for the past year trying to get water,” said Petersen. “When this ordinance passed, it meant I couldn’t irrigate on the new property, and I was stuck.”
During the meeting, Petersen asked the agency to grandfather his property in since he had played by the rules. “They agreed to do it, and they did so for one other farmer as well,” he said.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen next year,” said Tschirhart. “The ordinance preserves the status quo until we can find a clear path to take next. What path we take is anybody’s guess.”#
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/mar/11/ordinance-puts-limit-on-water-for-growers-in-and/
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