Letter: Will the state intervene in water basin issues?
I talked with good friends who attended one of Cindy Steinbeck’s recent meetings about the water district. They said she emphatically says the state will never step in.
You have to ask yourself, why is it that she never invites officials from the county and the state to her public meetings so both sides can be heard? The new state law, state officials and the county supervisors say that an agency must declare itself to manage the Paso Basin by June of next year. That agency could be the county or the water district. Which one has not as yet been determined because the results of the Measure A & B election won’t be known until after March 8th.
The county also says it will cost money to do this, be it the county or the district, but they are required to get our consent by approving Measure A. Defeating it sends a signal to the state and the county that we refuse to fund it ourselves. The county’s hands are tied as they say they don’t have extra money lying around for something we just told them we don’t want to pay for. This is choosing to do nothing. Doesn’t this trigger state intervention?
Last Wednesday in Templeton, Tom Peltier and Jessica Bean of the State Water Resources Control Board addressed the public on this very matter. Mr. Peltier said and I quote: “Anyone who tells you the state won’t step in is misinformed.” Jessica Bean said, “State intervention happens when local efforts fail, including choosing to do nothing. The state will certainly come in under those circumstances.” Obviously Sacramento is watching what‘s going on here very closely. The question then becomes, do we want to become the poster child for the first state intervention under the new law? Do we want to be the headline in every major newspaper in the state?
So Ms. Steinbeck says the state won’t come in. The state says it will. Those urging a yes vote on the district are merely saying what the state says it will do. Now, who are we supposed to believe, the state or Ms. Steinbeck?
Bob Brown
Paso Robles, Calif.
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