Supervisor working to get water grants

'Not a general drying up of wells,' Bill Connelly says, but polluted, shallow wells a worry

PALERMO >> While the issue of agriculture and residential wells drying up has become a topic of conversation in Glenn County, in nearby Butte County, Butte County Supervisor for District 1 Bill Connelly said that in Palermo and south Oroville he is aware of just one dry well.

Connelly said the well is along Lincoln Boulevard and that it may or may not be attributed to the drought California is currently experiencing. He said that there is a significant amount of water under the Palermo area, however there are old wells, shallow wells and polluted wells in the area as well.

Eric Smith is a member of the Oroville City Council and president of the Oroville Chamber of Commerce and also serves on the Wyandotte Creek Groundwater Sustainability Agency, of which Connelly is the chair. Wyandotte Creek sub-basin is part of the Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basin and is located in Butte County. Its boundaries lie on the

Feather River to the north and west, on the Butte and Yuba county line to the south and the edge of the alluvial basin to the east. The Wyandotte Creek Groundwater Sustainability Agency consists of Oroville, Butte County and the Thermalito Water and Sewer District.

Smith said that once residents get into the foothills and are in a different type of typography rather than the valley floor well owners dig deeper wells, however the wells have less capacity as those at the valley floor. He believes this is the problem with the pollution of the wells in Palermo.

Because of this Connelly said his office is working to obtain grants and other money which would help bring water to residents’ doors.

“There’s a need for that because of the pollution and some of the ground water out there and shallow wells,” Connelly said in a voicemail. “There’s not a general drying up of wells in Palermo that I can find out.”

According to mydrywatersupply.water.ca.gov, there have been 295 dry wells reported since the start of 2021 in the entire state, with 178 coming in the last 30 days. The website states that information is intended to inform state and local agencies on drought impacts on household water supplies.

To report a dry well in Butte County or anywhere in California visit https:// mydrywatersupply.water. ca.gov/report/public/form.