By KAREN VELIE Less then two months after the implementation of a 116 percent water and sewer rate increase, the Cambria Community Services District is planning to approve a set of staggered pay hikes of 38 percent for its general... (Continue reading)
By DANIEL BLACKBURN An expensive and anonymous telephone poll aimed at voters in San Luis Obispo County’s District 5 attempts to discredit incumbent Supervisor Debbie Arnold with a series of carefully-crafted questions. Arnold’s opponent, Eric Michielssen, told radio station KPRL... (Continue reading)
Twelve wells near the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport contain levels of a chemical that exceed state limits. The chemical was previously used by the aircraft industry, and regulators suspect the airport property is the source of the pollution.... (Continue reading)
Editor’s Note: This is first in a two-part series examining economic rewards tied to North County water. Cindy Steinbeck’s letter is at the bottom of this article. By DANIEL BLACKBURN A quiet but frenetic land rush in the North County... (Continue reading)
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move ahead with plans to pipe water from the Diablo Canyon desalination plant to a South County water system. The board authorized spending $900,000 on project planning and... (Continue reading)
By DANIEL BLACKBURN What would it mean if the state should ever assume responsibility for and control over the Paso Robles water basin? State officials have authority of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 (SGMA) to act in cases... (Continue reading)
Editor’s Note: A video of San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson asking to give the state control of the Paso Robles basin follows the article. By DANIEL BLACKBURN One of the most outspoken advocates of a failed North County... (Continue reading)
Large reservoirs in Northern California are filling up as a result of recent rainfall. This week, both Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville passed their average levels for this point in the year. [LA Times] Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, has... (Continue reading)
A Santa Clara judge has tentatively rejected a legal bid by three South County cities to halt new development and new groundwater pumping on the Nipomo Mesa. [Tribune] As part of a longstanding battle over the use of the Santa... (Continue reading)
OPINION by DANIEL BLACKBURN Any post-mortem of the failed effort to form a water district in the North County needs to start with Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian and his resounding snub to thousands of the regions’ residents. Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo)... (Continue reading)