Category: Water

Tuscan Water District to levy fee that will finance operations Large landowners who favored fee had more voting clout

photo courtesy of Tuscan Water District
Approved TWD map

by Leslie Layton
posted Feb. 13

The recently-formed Tuscan Water District (TWD) is now in the budget planning stage after winning the right to levy a special assessment fee on landowners within district boundaries.

In an election held last month, TWD won the support it sought for a fee of up to $6.46/acre to be paid by landowners whose votes were weighted based on the number of acres owned. That was in accordance with California law that allows weighted voting in special districts, said TWD General Manager Tovey Giezentanner.

Giezentanner said the fee could raise up to about $620,000 a year that would pay for “general expenses, not around a specific project, but to fulfill the mission of the district.”

Giezentanner said TWD will “pursue service supply” and undertake both recharge and conservation projects to reduce groundwater overdraft. TWD must win approval for any new fees that would fund special projects. read more

After canal failure, Butte Creek Canyon residents ask for accountability Canyon residents want long-term plan for salmon survival

photo by Karen Laslo
Mechoopda Indian Tribe Environmental Director He-Lo Ramirez said a “primary goal” is the restoration of wild salmon on Butte Creek.

by Leslie Layton
posted Aug. 29

How to hold Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. accountable was a top concern at an Aug. 24 community meeting in Butte Creek Canyon following the canal failure that created a landslide earlier this month.

Butte Creek Canyon residents, still worried about the welfare of this year’s relatively small spring run of wild Chinook salmon, also want to know how future accidents can be prevented and whether steps to conserve the fragile ecosystem will be taken. The canal failure washed out a hillside, for a short time damming the creek and for a couple of days turning it sludgy orange.

“This is a sacred, sacred part of California and deserves more loving care because we have the last salmon run,” said Phaedra LaRocca Morrill, one of the organizers of a meeting attended by some 100 people that crowded into the historic Centerville School House on a warm summer evening. read more

PG&E canal failure under investigation Were state officials notified in a timely manner?

This photo was taken by an observer of the devastation caused by the canal breach.

by Leslie Layton
posted Aug. 15

The failure of the PG&E-operated Butte Canal that caused a landslide into Butte Creek last week, turning the water a sludgy-orange, is under investigation by the law enforcement arm of the state’s Department of Fish & Wildlife.

“We’re very aware of the situation there,” said Peter Tira, an information officer for the department. “Butte Creek has the largest spring run of wild Chinook salmon in California, and that’s the reason we monitor it so closely.”

Tira said today that game wardens have so far found one carcass, but that doesn’t mean that more of the Chinook haven’t perished. The water began clearing after one and a half days, with the orange-ish sediment settling along the creek sides, but the creek middle is still murky, making the search for salmon challenging. read more

PG&E canal failure a threat to salmon, wildlife Harthorn: "This event is an underwater Camp Fire"

photo courtesy of Friends of Butte Creek

by Leslie Layton
posted Aug. 12
This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12 with an additional response from Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. (PG&E).

The breach in PG&E-operated Butte Canal that has turned Butte Creek into orange sludge will turn out to be the death knell for many salmon and some members of other species, says fisheries expert Allen Harthorn.

Harthorn, founder of the advocacy organization Friends of Butte Creek, warns the environmental disaster triggered by the Aug. 10 breach is a threat to what was the state’s best chance to save spring-run Chinook salmon. Butte Creek, a 93-mile tributary of the Sacramento River, is considered critical to the spring run’s survival.

“This was the best run of spring-run salmon in the entire state,” Harthorn said today, “although it was in need of a lot of restoration. This event is essentially an underwater Camp Fire — there’s no fire, but it’s killing everything in its path.” read more

New groundwater fee approved for Chico property owners State today approves groundwater sustainability plans for region

photo by Leslie Layton
Billie Roney

by Leslie Layton
posted July 27

A groundwater management board charged with managing a large portion of Butte County’s water supply met a tide of resistance July 26 to a new fee that will be levied on Chico property owners.

The fee was approved by the Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) Board in a 5-0 vote and set at $1.54 per acre for the 2023-24 property tax year. It will thus be almost unnoticeable for small-parcel owners, but ranchers who spoke at the public hearing, held in the Chico City Council chamber, objected that it was inherently unfair to large landowners who aren’t extracting water.

Ranch owner Billie Roney said she and her husband were “shocked” to learn the new fee was in the pipeline. “We’re not irrigating,” she told the Vina GSA board. “The fee structure is not fair. We just keep getting pummeled.” read more

Groundwater management tax faces protest election Chico-area residents have only a few weeks if they wish to reject controversial fee

Vina subbasin stretches from Durham to the northern Butte County border and includes Chico.

by Natalie Hanson & Leslie Layton
posted July 1

Chico-area property owners have through July 26 to reject a proposed new fee for groundwater management that will otherwise appear on their December tax bills.

The annual per-acre fee would fund and implement a new groundwater management plan for the area known as the Vina Subbasin. That subbasin, which holds a significant portion of Butte County’s water, stretches from the Durham area northward to the Butte County line and includes Chico.

The fee will appear on property tax bills if it’s not rejected in what’s called a “protest election” underway now. Property owners who are opposed can send a written protest by July 26 to Vina Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (see address at end of story) or voice their objection at a public hearing that day. read more