Tag: SGMA

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. 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

Lawsuits over groundwater plans can proceed Butte and Vina subbasins could be dramatically affected under plans

photo by Todd Bishop
A deteriorating roadside sign south of Orland, from a past campaign against a wastewater treatment plant, offers a message that remains relevant to many residents of the area.

by Todd Bishop, Sacramento Valley Mirror
posted Sept. 11

Lawsuits challenging the validity of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) in Glenn, Colusa, and Butte counties will be allowed to proceed after three judges separately overruled efforts by local groundwater authorities to dismiss the cases based on legal technicalities.

In an Aug. 23 order, Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson disagreed with the Glenn and Colusa groundwater authorities and found that the plaintiffs in the case -— AquAlliance, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the California Water Impact Network -— were not precluded from pursuing the action under the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). read more