Supervisor Lucero asks the real questions

“We still have a lot to go in this process. The LAFCO approval stage is a new beginning.” — Debra Lucero, Butte County Supervisor for District 2

I applaud and appreciate the hundreds of hours Supervisor Lucero has dedicated towards researching the Tuscan Water District. Her efforts greatly enhanced public awareness and input on the TWD which is precisely what a supervisor should be doing for the benefit of their constituents, particularly when District 2 comprises the bulk of the proposed TWD map.

Lucero has well grounded concerns, and a myriad of collaborating evidence, highlighting efforts to stifle public input on the TWD, while serendipitously using the public resource of Butte County Water and Resource Conservation in the pursuit of creating a private entity water district as far back as 2015.

I share Lucero’s deep concern with Butte County relinquishing water rights via resolution 17-170, without public input, to all county areas not currently served by a water district. Why are we giving a public resource, to a private entity, weighted towards the largest landowners, control over the Tuscan Aquifer?

Thank you Supervisor Lucero for carrying forward the question that hasn’t been answered, and is part of the requirement of starting a California Special Water District, IS IT NEEDED? The Tuscan Water District application states the TWD is being formed because the Groundwater Sustainability Agency can’t do the work set forth in their Groundwater Sustainability Plan. This is false, they can and will, with or without the Tuscan Water District.

— Bill Mash, Chico