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Group wants to charge for well water in rural Paso Robles

January 27, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

For more than a decade, a group of people have sought to require landowners over the Paso Robles water basin to pay a fee for water usage. Even though nearly 80% of impacted property owners voted against the proposed fees in 2016, large agricultural businesses have continued their pursuit of fees on residential properties.

In the ongoing David versus Goliath battle over water rights, the Paso Basin Cooperative Committee met on Jan. 22 to review a rate study developed by two water districts: Shandon San Juan Water District and Estrella El Pomar Creston. Staff from the water districts previously worked on the proposed rates in private.

Approximately 8% are large corporate irrigated landowners who use 90% of the basin water. Initially, the plan was to have only the large commercial land owners pay for water usage.

Their latest plan, however, is to charge everyone in rural areas with wells over the basin, including small residential properties.

The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act did not change water law, it was put into place to stop over-pumping of the basin. Current water law allows small water users to pump water through wells on their property without charge.

In pushing the fees, proponents reported the Paso Basin as “critically overdrafted,” However, the judge in a quite title lawsuit ruled the basin is not in critical overdraft, and instead had a minimal overdraft approximately 40 years ago.

In order to collect fees, the five Groundwater Sustainability Agencies will need to establish a Joint Powers Authority.

 


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Every time I read this story, I read about people who are trying to feel better through pushing anger management on to property owners. Sadly, at the expense of everyone, especially on those who live on a busy street and will have to deal with a busier street if this actually happens.


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Welcome to the (not so) New America. Where your rights will continue to be eviscerated, while the politi-cite class and oligarchy of corporate donor class parasites continue to amass power as they decimate the very core principles and mechanisms that lifted so many out of the trenches in the first place. Ah, but you see, alas, that was NEVER meant to go on. As soon as the hears got moving, the plans were hatched to put an end to equality and the “litttle” man being able to pull himself up by the bootstraps. No, no, no. Cant have the plebiscites going about, mucking things up for what SHOULD be a vassal state. What you are witnessing is the ushering in of a New Age, Technocratic return of a Feudalistic system. One in which YOU, me and every other schmuck who EVER trusted the hierarchy of the corporate cesspool managerial, political donor and oligarchs class’s and their politi-cite lapdog will be left to fight over table scraps. Think “Terminator” crossed with “A Brave New World” with a cup of “1984” and likely even a dash of “Soilent Green” thrown in to keep things interesting. As was literally BLASTED on the bullhorn to all the Naysayers for the better part of 3 years ” You will own NOTHING, and be happy!” Prepare yourselves for your dinner of cricket bars and to bed down for the night in your casket like “pod”. If only there were a way out, something like was drafted in a certain document. If I remember correctly it went something like…

” The right of the people to REDRESS their government of their grievances, and if in doing so, that fails, the rights and will of the people to DISSOLVE said government in its ENTIRETY, reimagining and installing a new governance in its place”. Hmmmmm. 2ndly, I am now pondering on how THAT could properly be accomplished? On 2nd thought, maybe its a pipedream. If for only a 2nd, the founders had found the forethought to secure a way to do so maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with. If only there were a way…or maybe even 2! One can only hope, because as it stands now, 2nds count, and we are mere minutes away from disaster. Anyway, just food for thought! Cheers!


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Mega corporate and mega government, cronyism at the highest level is made all the more powerful in a single party state.


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