Homeowners and farmers crowded into a Tehama County, California, hearing room to challenge groundwater fee proposals they described as unfair, confusing, and badly communicated.
After nearly seven hours of testimony and criticism, county supervisors chose to delay action, as the Corning Observer reported.
What happened?
Held across two meetings, the hearings drew so many people that the board chamber filled up and attendees spilled into a side room and hallway. The crowd came to weigh in on two proposed fee systems linked to state-required groundwater management.
One proposal, as the Observer reported, applied to homeowners and other "groundwater extractors" in managed sub-basins in Corning, Los Molinos, Antelope, Red Bluff, and Bowman, with a possible fee of $2.70 per assumed acre-foot of water.
The other applied to agricultural land in Corning, Los Molinos, and Red Bluff sub-basins, with a proposed $2 fee for each assumed acre-foot of water based on crop type.
The lack of communication regarding the new fees was a point of contention for community members, the Observer reported. Many residents said Facebook posts or outreach from the Tehama County Farm Bureau were how they first learned the hearings were happening.
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Deputy Director of Public Works Justin Jensen said the county had tried to contact property owners, but one speaker pointed to the overflow crowd and said, "The proof is in the pudding," according to the newspaper.
By the end, county supervisors who had backed the effort openly criticized how it had been introduced. "We have failed with the rollout," Matt Hanson said, while Steve Zane added, "We didn't do this right," the Observer reported.
Why does it matter?
For many, the issue was not just the fee but what they saw as interference with private wells and property rights.
Supervisor Rob Burroughs called the proposal taxation without representation, per the paper, and said, "I do not believe that we should punish people for watering some flowers."
County officials, however, stressed that Tehama still has to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. "We now have 58 different county programs trying to find 58 ways to fund this," Supervisor Greg Jones said, as the Observer noted.
What's being done?
Instead of proceeding to a vote, the board set the resolution aside to rework it.
That decision came despite Jensen's warning that waiting could leave the county without enough time to put a replacement fee on the next tax bill and push Tehama out of compliance with state requirements.
Even so, officials said taking more time was preferable to approving a flawed plan. "At the end of the day, it's better that we get it done right rather than get it done," Jones said.
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