LOIS HENRY: As the faucet turns, Kern County style
| Wednesday, Jan 04 2012 09:55 AM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jan 04 2012 09:58 AM
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Listen to KERN 1180 AM from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday when Californian staffers discuss this issue and others. You can get your 2 cents in by calling 842-KERN. Lois Henry hosts every Wednesday. To listen to archived shows, visit www.bakersfield.com/CalifornianRadio
I know you've all been breathlessly awaiting the next installment of the McAllister Ranch groundwater banking tale and, lucky for you, I have the most recent twist.
The two local agricultural water districts behind the would-be bank told the world (well, me anyway) on Tuesday that they intend to forge ahead despite almost certain legal opposition from the city of Bakersfield. In fact, the districts hope to have an environmental review done in six to nine months with construction slated for 2014.
Whew!
Oh, don't pretend like you're not fascinated by this stuff too. H2O always has a big, fat $ attached somewhere, which means the story is never quite as simple as it seems.
When last we left off ...
The city was none too pleased when the two water districts, Buena Vista and Rosedale Rio Bravo, announced last spring they'd bought the 2,000-acre former housing development out of bankruptcy and intended to bank ground water there. (The center section, with the golf course and some existing infrastructure, will be developed per their purchase agreement. And the districts have promised to bank water on the eastern section only until urbanization comes knocking.)
No one had checked with the city, which holds sway over the land's zoning. Not to mention, the city had been counting on the numerous traffic impact and sewer hook-up fees that would come with the projected 9,000 homes slated for that land.
And, the city suspected, this could be a means for the districts to sell Kern River water out of the county.
Hmmmm ... now that's interesting.
Buena Vista owns Kern River rights and Rosedale Rio Bravo grabs Kern River water whenever Mother Nature sends more down the channel than all the rights holders are entitled to, or can handle.
The city's lawyer fired off a letter outlining its concerns.
Even so, by early summer the water districts had filed a "notice of exemption" from the usual environmental hurdles to get a pilot project under way in hopes of getting some of last year's abundant water supply onto the land quickly.
Oh no you didn't! was the city's rather angry reaction as it filed suit to stop the districts from putting water on the land or moving any earth.
That's where the story stood all these months as the two sides held meetings trying to find some common ground.
Despite some forward movement, according to Rosedale Rio Bravo's General Manager Eric Averett, negotiations fell apart before Christmas without real agreement.
The city still thinks the districts need special zoning. The districts don't.
The city still thinks the districts should help make up at least some of the lost fees. The districts don't.
And the city still thinks the districts must promise not to sell water outside the basin. One district is fine making that promise. The other district, eh, not so much.
In a joint news release issued Tuesday, the districts stress the banking project is intended to shore up local supplies for local use.
Again, here's where things get interesting.
Averett has said numerous times Rosedale Rio Bravo will not use the bank to sell water outside the county.
"Public opinion is 'Don't turn us into another Owens Valley, don't use this project to facilitate water sales,'" Averett said. "We've heard that and Rosedale has stepped up to say, 'Nope, that's not gonna happen.'"
Buena Vista's General Manager Dan Bartel, however, wasn't so unequivocal when I spoke with him Tuesday.
He insisted the intent of the water bank was for local use but "while that (water sales) could happen, that's not the plan for this project."
So why not promise no sales?
No other water banking projects in Kern have been required to make any such promises, he said.
"What's so different about this project?"
In fact, he said, the design of this bank will incorporate what Buena Vista and Rosedale Rio Bravo have learned about withdrawing water too aggressively and will have a "much more conservative approach."
Buena Vista and Rosedale Rio Bravo are jointly suing the Kern County Water Agency and Kern Water Bank alleging they sucked a massive amount of water out so quickly during the drought that it changed the movement of groundwater beneath their districts.
Bartel said his district, which has poor groundwater in some areas, has been changing from row to permanent crops and this project will give farmers the assurance they need.
"The reality is this is a back-up supply for our own crops," he said.
That may be true, but it's hard for the city (and me) to ignore the fact that both districts already do sell water outside the basin.
They jointly sell 11,000 acre feet a year to Castaic Lake Water Agency for $530 an acre foot under a long-term contract. And Rosedale Rio Bravo sells excess Kern River water, when available, to a Southern California development company called the Glorious Land Co. for $436 an acre foot.
They are both in the business of selling water, even if that's just a small part of their business.
Considering the stakes involved in Kern's water future, I'm hoping it remains a small part of their business.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Comment at Bakersfield.com, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com.
