A plea to use our water wisely

There has been much talk about the board created to manage the Tuscan Aquifer in the north county area. As I understand it, the board is to consist of landowners and the votes of the members are based on the acreage owned or managed. I’m not sure that this is a good plan. Surely the landowners must be represented, but there are also urban users that draw water from the same system of aquifers; i.e. Cal Water. I feel strongly that the non agricultural users need to be represented on this board. I really don’t think this should be managed by the state of California, yet if we don’t use our water wisely and conserve when possible the state will take over. Most will agree that a state takeover would be a bad thing.

Speaking of wise use of resources; there are two gravel roads leading into orchards west of Chico near the water treatment facility. These two roads are watered every weekday morning. While I can appreciate the dust reduction, it does not seem like the best use of our limited water resource. I understand the need for irrigating the orchards, and appreciate the reduction of carbon dioxide accomplished by the trees. However, this use of water is a slap in the face of the urban user that is very judicious in their use of water from the same ground water source.

— Mel Granskog, Chico