A year of falling lake levels, spreading algae, and dead fish has pushed one California homeowners association to reverse course.
At Chowchilla's Greenhills Estates, board members voted to resume past-due lake-related payments as part of an effort to get water flowing again, as The Merced FOCUS reported.
What happened?
John Campbell, who heads the Greenhills Master Association, said the board voted unanimously on June 30 to start paying delinquent bills for water delivery, lake maintenance, and licensing, while also staying current on future monthly charges.
He said the decision was meant to show good faith as the HOA's dispute with the Water Resource Council, which manages the lakes, moves forward.
The dispute stems from a 2021 cost-sharing deal under which Greenhills would cover 66.77% of shared water-system operating and maintenance expenses. The case is still pending in Madera County Superior Court, where an August 10 case management conference is on the calendar.
Matthew Backowski, attorney for the Water Resource Council, said the council had not yet seen confirmation of the vote or any money.
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"If Greenhills has in fact voted to pay the outstanding amounts and resume monthly payments going forward, that would be a positive and overdue step," he said, per The Merced FOCUS.
Meanwhile, Sierra Golf Management said it plans to end lake maintenance and administrative work for Greenhills and nearby properties, citing litigation and alleged contract breaches.
Why does it matter?
People living around the lakes have seen shoreline trash pile up, shared areas worsen, algae spread, and fish die.
Those changes can harm local ecosystems and also reduce day-to-day quality of life for the people who live there.
They can also carry financial consequences.
Brad, a resident who asked to be identified only by his first name, put it this way: "My house is only as worth it as the water that's behind it."
Local real estate agent Scott Messing, who also lives in the area, told The Merced FOCUS that Greenhills homes are already facing price pressure, with lakefront properties proving particularly hard to sell.
"There's a lot of fear out there, and you're limiting buyers through fear and through litigation," he said.
The situation also underscores the role HOAs can play in environmental decisions. Across the country, HOAs have faced criticism for blocking money-saving and resource-smart home upgrades, including rooftop solar panels and native plant lawns, even when residents want to cut bills and reduce water use.
What's being done?
Campbell said the HOA plans to pay both disputed and undisputed charges, in some cases "under protest," in hopes that conditions at the lakes will improve.
"We're going to go ahead and pay them as a good faith effort to get the water flowing again with no necessary guarantee that the other side will turn the faucet on, but that's how seriously we take our residents and their environmental concerns," he said, per The Merced FOCUS.
The lawsuit against the Water Resource Council will continue, while Backowski told The Merced FOCUS that the council wants actual payment and verified amounts owed, not just promises.
For Greenhills residents, the immediate question is whether the payments actually go through and whether the lakes begin to recover.
Resident Chris Elias said, "Now, even if I had to sell, I couldn't without taking a loss."
Brad said, "The algae is blooming. Fish are dying. Nobody wants to live there."
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