Hollister
– Three local water agencies may team up to tackle regional
problems.
Hollister – Three local water agencies may team up to tackle regional problems.
At its meeting tonight, the San Benito County Water District’s board of directors will consider adopting a regional water plan that creates a partnership between San Benito, the Santa Clara Water District and the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.
San Benito County has its share of water-related challenges, including the state-imposed sewer moratorium that’s stalled Hollister development since 2002. Many local farmers are also in a tight spot as the quality of local groundwater deteriorates and the water level rises.
According to San Benito water district manager John Gregg, the county can’t solve these problems on its own.
“People who think down that path are naive,” he said.
Gregg added that the agencies need to put a regional plan in place if they want to receive money raised by state bonds.
“It opens the door for partnerships and state funding,” he said.
In fact, Gregg said work on the plan has already paid off, in the form of a $25 million state grant to pay for the early stages of the plan’s implementation. According to the regional plan, that money will fund eight projects; in San Benito County, $4.4 million will be spent on Soap Lake floodplain preservation.
County Supervisor Don Marcus said the grant is a good thing, although he warned that local agencies must work cautiously on conservation efforts.
“I believe there is a need for conservation, but there’s also a need to maintain property rights,” he said.
Tracy Hemmeter, senior project manager for the Santa Clara County Water district, said the district’s board of directors approved the plan unanimously on May 22.
Eligibility for state funding is a big reason to adopt the plan, but it’s not the only one, Hemmeter said. After all, the three agencies started preparing the plan in 2004, before they even knew about the funding requirements.
The regional plan covers efforts in the Pajaro River and its tributaries, encompassing parts of San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. It prioritizes work in four categories: water supply/salt management, agricultural water quality, Pajaro River flood protection, and conjunctive water supply management, which includes improvements and rehabilitation of local reservoirs.
Pajaro Valley manager Bruce Laclergue said the agency’s board of directors plans to vote on the plan on June 6.
“Hopefully it’s just a formality,” he said.
The regional plan could be particularly useful for the Pajaro Valley agency, because it’s the only one that hasn’t tapped into the San Felipe imported water system, Laclergue said.
Water can be a contentious issue, Gregg said, but he’s optimistic the three agencies will be able to work together, because they are “unsullied” by past squabbling.
“Unlike Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay, we don’t have as many projects that are one agency’s issue,” he said.
Staff writer Michael Van Cassell contributed to this report.
