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Supervisors declare drought emergency in SLO County

March 12, 2014

drought_2398818bThe San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors declared a county drought emergency Tuesday.

San Luis Obipso became the 17th county in the state to declare a drought emergency. The declaration allows the county to easier shift its use of funds and personnel to address the water shortage.

The supervisors can now fund work projects related to the drought without going through standard budgeting procedures and can reassign personnel to take part in them. By declaring the emergency, the county has also raised its standing for state and federal drought assistance.

Each month, Ron Alsop, county manager of emergency services, must go before the board of supervisors to confirm the drought emergency is continuing.

The drought declaration came one week after Sacramento officials indicated that the county’s proposed water district for the Paso Robles aquifer would not come to fruition as planned.

 


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Can’t help but wonder how much this is going to cost the residents of this county?

I think the people who follow this issue have in mind that the County,Cities and Board Of

Supervisors will have some reason to put more costs to all of us!


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Good we have a group to watch the drought. How about a solution or measures to mitigate the impact. The best these yahoo’s did was get the Naciemento pipeline shoved down our throats. Hmmm Naci water level is at 20+ and will be much lower soon. Not much opportunity to secure a water source from that pipeline with a continued drought. It is time to talk about Desalination. For the price we paid for the pipeline yielding 17K acre feet a year we could have built a Desal plant yielding 12-15K acre feet a year and secured a drought resistent water source. Yeah, Desal plants are electricity hogs but hey we have a power plant very nearby that we should be able to partner with for the good of the community….


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O’m glad to see the BOS declare a state of emergency, perhaps they will show the leadership needed in helping to manage the ground water basins. Things like moratoriums on new annexations into cities to delay projects like new hotels and housing projects. A review and update of our building codes with emphasis on water conservation designs and technologies incorporated into the code. An agriculture plan that restricts establishing new vineyards and irrigated crops that don’t adopt water conservation methods and strategies.

As far as Mr. Alsop’s role it appears he is merely the guy who collects drought information and situation updates and then reduces it to a monthly single page update for the BOS.


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Thank God that little delta smelt fish will be OK…

Darn I’m thirsty…


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By declaring the emergency, the county has also raised its standing for state and federal drought assistance.


That’s about it. Hey, we can milk more money out of other people, not just our own subjects… er, citizens.


The stink and rot is from top to bottom in this country, make no mistake about it. Openness and transparency, indeed.


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This is a good first step in ensuring sustainability of our county’s water resources.


My one concern is the lack of real oversight of the Board of Directors, especially when it comes to funding projects.


The idea of Ron Alsop, manager of emergency services, must, once a month, appear before the BOD to confirm the drought emergency still exists, is no real oversight. We’ve seen the way the County officials rubberstamp each others’ wishes.


I am not making a negative opinion about Mr. Alsop’s integrity. I am making a negative opinion about the County venue in which Mr. Alsop must play nice in order to keep his position and funding coming from the SLO County BOS.


In addition, there is a benefit to this drought emergency coming to Mr. Alsop, whether he welcomes it or not. We have not had a big, fat emergency in awhile. This tends to make an emergency services director tends to diminish the importance of having a vibrant and competent emergency services department, which has a negative impact on that department’s funding…especially when funds are short.


If Mr. Alsop was of the nature of someone else in a county official position–say, County Supervisors Gibson or Hill–we could anticipate that Mr. Alsop would continue to insist the emergency status for the county was necessary, even if that was not true. Worse, if Mr. Alsop was like Supervisors Gibson or Hill, we could anticipate he has a floozy on the side, and he would work to ensure such floozy would benefit financially from the emergency status.


So, while it is my opinion that declaring an emergency status for our county’s water resources is the right thing to do, I think there needs to be oversight from a power that does not have to play nice in the corrupt County culture in order to keep his job.


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You had a good point going. Why did you feel the need to dilute it with the irrelevant reference to Gibson & Hill’s sexual morality?


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The point is relevant, and the best example there is (in my opinion) of the problems San Luis Obispo County (and its taxpayers who fund this dysfunctional government) face, AND it demonstrates how there is a big lack of oversight of the officials representing us at the county level.


Two County Supervisors (Hill and Gibson) have committed very large and obvious conflicts of interest by abusing their power to advance their illicit lovers’ careers in county-funded positions. This is not only a huge ethical problem, which Hill and Gibson have used their power as a member of the BOS to cover up and avoid, but it is also a dirty, seamy reflection on the BOS and the County government at large.


I’m tired of these two spoiled, indulged, and unethical frat-boy-minded County supervisors and their embarrassing breaches of ethics. These breaches are not only embarrassing, they are paid for by the County taxpayers.


So, no, I’m not going to simply roll over for them and pretend that, just because they have got away with it so far, I am going to give them a free pass and stop bringing it up when I believe it appropriately demonstrates an issue or problem.


We need oversight of this emergency status from an outside agency, one who is not in bed (literally or figuratively) with the officials who either made the decision or whose career is advanced by the emergency being in place.


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Unfortunately there is nothing irrelevant about Gibson and Hills meglomania, ethics and morality. They are not honorable individuals and certainly do not display the leadership characteristics required in a democracy. I am disappointed that you have swallowed the kool-aid that Gibson has been serving in his attempt to down play his disgusting behavior and his overt power trips. He is already claiming that the extreme right wing is trying to trash him and that any remarks or concerns over his past (or current) behavior is irrelevant. It is in fact a relevant factor in the selection of an elected official. The fact that we miss the mark so often in this county is not a reason to readily discount the need for honor and integrity in our elected officials.


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Reads like a contagious mindset brought back from the Winter Olympics.


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