Deadline approaches for second water district vote
–New Times reports that a push by more than 200 property owners in North County to form a second water district over the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin will reach its finish line on Oct. 17, the last day of the district’s mail-in election.
The proposed Estrella-El Pomar-Creston Water District covers roughly 38,000 acres around Paso Robles, and if formed will join the Shandon-San Juan Water District, which held its election last year and covers 136,000 acres.
Both districts were launched to play prominent roles in the upcoming discussion about groundwater management for the Paso Robles water basin, a 780-square-mile aquifer critically depleted during the last drought. When Paso basin overliers voted down a proposal in 2016 to form one water district to govern the whole basin, local agricultural stakeholders splintered into the two “voluntary” water districts, which means area property owners can decide whether or not to be included in the districts’ boundaries.
The vote will be weighted per acre: meaning that each landowner gets one vote per acre owned.
Since a district formation committee was started, it’s received close to $70,000 in donations, according to the New Times report. The highest donation of $18,500 came from the now-disbanded Paso Robles Agricultural Alliance for Groundwater Solutions (PRAAGS), which was formed in 2013 and included leading stakeholders from both water districts. Other major contributors to the effort were J Lohr Vineyards and Wines ($9,949), Justin Vineyards ($5,948), Gallo Vineyards ($5,990), SLO San Juan Road ($3,239), and Maddalena Vineyard ($1,882). The committee also received a major boost of $7,688 from Vino Farms LLC, a Lodi-based vineyard management firm that operates in SLO County.
To see the complete New Times report, click here.
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