General Plan sparks water dispute

For the first time, water appears as a general plan element that must be considered in the county blueprint for growth. And that brought out about 200 residents who attended afternoon and evening sessions on water issues.

Many of the 40 speakers during the evening hearing at the Glaser Center called for supervisors to strengthen water management provisions to include an assessment of whether development is drawing down groundwater and wells to become dry. About 40,000 private wells serve residents in unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, but they also compete for underground water with much larger wells used by cities like Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol and even the Sonoma County Water Agency in the Santa Rosa Plain.

Jim Fife, an Alton Lane resident, was among several property owners who said their wells had run dry and lamented spending thousands of dollars to drill another one 200 feet deeper.

"I am the precursor to what many county residents are going to feel," Fife said.

Officials with the county's Permit and Resource Management Department say writing specific water policy recommendations into the new general plan has been difficult because much of the authority is usurped by federal and state law.

"We have limited jurisdiction to manage ground water. We are not a provider," said Greg Carr, the county's comprehensive planning division manager. "It does not mean we are powerless, but we can't go forward and conduct ground water management planning."

Earlier in the day, supervisors heard from about a dozen well owners who were adamantly opposed to any sort of county effort to measure well water usage or levels. Last year, the issue promoted hundreds to protest at Planning Commission hearings on the updated general plan.

"We were influential in getting 300 out to a meeting last year on the well issue," said Orlean Koehle, representing the Sonoma County Land Rights Coalition. "We are happy that the Planning Commission changed that (policy recommendation). We have 40,000 names and we would be happy to alert them again."

Several in the audience of about 90 people wore "Well Owner" stickers left over from last year's battle.

A year ago, the Planning Commission rejected proposals to monitor new well permits, but retained plans to monitor industrial and commercial wells. It proposed a voluntary system for well monitoring, but that still didn't sit well with many critics who questioned the cost and the ultimate intention.

"This volunteer stuff is a way to get in and make this mandatory for all wells," scoffed one Fulton resident.

On the other side of the political spectrum, several speakers said the time is ripe for a water management plan to be included in the general plan. Most supporters said they backed water management proposals from the Greenbelt Alliance and the Sonoma County Water Coalition, which are calling for comprehensive water supply studies.

Representatives of several environmental groups said they had labored a long time to get water included as general plan element.

"The county should step up and take on responsibility over surface and groundwater," said Keith Kaulum of the Sierra Club. "You are not going to get a lot of cooperation on well water."

However, Sandy Potter, representing the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the agency was "discouraged" by "weakened standards of protection" for water resources in the proposed General Plan.

Her statement that the county was "back sliding on existing requirements" prompted heckling from some in the audience.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.