Calaveras Enterprise

Calaveras general plan needs a water element




The evening of June 30 at the joint meeting of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission, I erred in thinking that there would be a separate discussion of the four items presented for action. That wasn’t the only mistake made that night. The board erred as well. It decided to place in a “parking lot” any action regarding the inclusion of a water element in the general plan update.

There are several reasons why this was a significant error.

1. Notwithstanding our residents, the most important resource in Calaveras County is water.

2. Not addressing this critical issue in a coherent manner and instead distributing the discussion of water throughout the various elements of the general plan fragments and minimalizes water’s immense importance to the future of the county. Further, crucial planning issues could be lost by this scattered distribution.

3. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research is looking very closely at including water as a mandatory element. If this occurs, and it seems certain in light of our current drought, this won’t get put off until the next update but will most likely occur when it becomes a requirement. This could be an expensive process, demanding a full integration with the other elements, some form of environmental review and possible substantial revision of other elements to address conformity.

4. Aspects of a full blown water element already exist, so any revision, coordination and review of this element for inclusion in the update could be expedited with a minimum of effort.

5. County representatives have stated that the issues revolving around water are water agency issues and not the purview of the county. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Perhaps with the exception of noise, water is inextricably entwined with all the other elements. To try to make sense of these relationships without discussing water in all its general plan manifestations in a single location assures confusion and misunderstanding.

6. There has never been, at least in my experience, a discussion among policymakers regarding the relationship of water and land use. No one can talk about the issue of land use without including the role of water. But it happens. Water people state, “Land use is not our responsibility.” Land use planners suggest that “water is best left up to the experts.” Where’s the interface? It doesn’t exist because there is no platform to engage in the discussion. There needs to be a mechanism for water planners and land-use planners to come together and have this discussion. This is where the inclusion of water element will facilitate that discussion.

7. The future of Calaveras County is tied to its understanding of water and the role this resource will play. This understanding will not come from its placement in a “parking lot.” It will only come from a frank, open and in depth discussion of the role of water. All interests need to be included. An existing water element, as part of the general plan, will provide for that because included in the element will be the mechanisms for maintaining a dialog.

8. Water is everyone’s interest. There are no boundaries other than those that define the geographic limits of our county. There are many things, with regard to water, that need to be part of a greater discussion that can only include full participation. The critical importance of understanding groundwater, whether we’re talking about our shared basin or the fractured rock hydrology that characterizes most of our groundwater resources, needs to be a shared dialog. Storm water management, either as a safety issue or as a resource issue, needs to be part of the discussion. Regionalization for efficiencies and economies of scale need to be part of the discussion. How do we identify recharge basins and how do we move excess water from one part of the county to another without breaking the bank? All these issues (and there are many more) exceed the Local Agency Formation Commission-imposed boundaries that limit the scope of water agencies.

9. Lastly, though there are many more reasons for the necessity of a water element, is the common human tendency to fall into the trap of “out of sight, out of mind.” With a water element as part of the general plan, we won’t lose sight.

In closing, I’d like to make one other observation. Expediency is not the standard that should be used when developing this general plan. We began over eight years ago to develop this update. Expediency then was the standard; we had to get it done quickly. Here we are, almost a decade later, still expediting our efforts. Let’s worry less about time and more about quality. Let’s worry less about getting it done and get it done right.

Robert Dean has a Mokelumne Hill address but lives closer to Mountain Ranch. He formerly served on the Calaveras County Water District Board of Directors. You can reach him at goldrushdean@yahoo.com.

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