Tell Board of Supervisors to vote no

Many are quite concerned about Big Ag taking control of water in Butte County via the Tuscan Water District (TWD). The Agricultural Groundwater Users of Butte County (AGUBC), concocting TWD, is an invitation-only organization requiring a $2500 fee. With one vote for every acre of agricultural land owned, the vast majority of the votes would go to huge landowners, such as Deseret Farms. But lawsuits against TWD’s legality could delay the County’s achieving the state’s demand that groundwater usage be reduced, a major component of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

AGUBC wants water from Paradise to sell to CalWater, so that Cal Water won’t need our county’s groundwater. This requires a very expensive pipeline from Paradise to Chico. The rich AGUBC farmers could then use a portion of Butte County’s groundwater for themselves, while meeting SGMA sustainability goals. To supplement that groundwater, they would purchase surface water from Oroville Dam. Then they would have complete control of our groundwater. Why? the law says that recharging the aquifer with surface water injections means the aquifer would no longer be public property but would belong to the group recharging the water. And all planned in secret sessions with potentially harmful and expensive results for most well owners and the rest of us as taxpayers.

Last week the Butte County Water commission approved the Tuscan Water District.

Next up is the Board of Supervisors. I urge you to write a letter to them asking to vote against the Tuscan Water District.

— Grace M. Marvin, Chico