Every California county has a Local Agency Formation Commission (or LAFCO), and this state mandated agency plays an incredibly important role in many of the land use decisions that turn out to be the very most central and important decisions for the future of a local community. Will the City of Watsonville be allowed to expand its borders and to develop urban uses on the fertile farmlands that surround the city? LAFCO will decide. Will the City of Santa Cruz be given permission to extend its water service to an undeveloped part of the UCSC Campus, to facilitate over 3,000,000 square feet of new development? LAFCO will decide. Will the City of Seaside be permitted to annex lands on the former Fort Ord that are the location of a planned “Monterey Downs” development? LAFCO will decide.

Today, at 4:00 p.m., the Monterey County LAFCO will be meeting in Salinas. Reading between the lines, it looks like the cities within Monterey County have decided to do what they can to support the Monterey Downs project. Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado has been removed from LAFCO, and Seaside City Council Member Ralph Rubio is taking his place. Since Seaside is promoting the Monterey Downs development, that’s going to be of real assistance, though the voters may have the final word, if the initiative measure to protect Fort Ord qualifies for the ballot and passes.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County LAFCO Website
• Monterey County LAFCO Agenda Packet for May 20, 2013 Meeting

The City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are planning jointly to construct a seawater desalination plant. The construction cost is estimated to be over $100 million dollars. Ratepayers in the City of Santa Cruz will be on the hook to pay 60% of that cost. Water rates will go up significantly if the plant is built. On a more philosophical plane, a decision to build a desal plant will be a decision to release our community from the inherent limits of the natural environment. Currently, we have to live within the limits of our natural water supply. Desalination is a way to “manufacture water.” As long as the ratepayers are willing to pay the costs, the supplies of water that can be produced are essentially unconstrained. The City of Santa Cruz has promised UCSC that it will pursue modular desalination plants in the future, to meet “system demand” for water. In other words, the decision on desal is a decision about University growth in particular, and future growth in general.

This is one of those cases in which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm, where I am “Of Counsel,” is representing an interested party, namely the Community Water Coalition. The environmental review process is just beginning, and I hope all of you will get personally involved. I have put links to the Draft EIR below. Comments are due by July 15th.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Desalination EIR Website

I like to review the agendas of the public agencies that make the land use, transportation, and water policy decisions that so profoundly affect our future. As regular listeners know, I keep trying to “share the joy” of all of that with all of you, and am often peppering you with a plethora of suggestions about how you can get informed and get involved. Let me reiterate what I said yesterday, before going on to another water-related topic: The decision on whether or not to build a seawater desalination plant, to serve customers in the Soquel Creek Water District and in the City of Santa Cruz Water Service Area, is of huge importance to our future. An environmental review process is just starting, and I recommend your personal participation!

Listeners should also focus in on what is happening in the Pajaro Valley. The Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency is meeting today, and I have a link to their agenda in today’s transcript. You can find that at kusp.org/landuse. If you download the agenda packet, load up that file in Adobe Reader, and then go to Page 63, you will find a discussion of “Response Options to Recent Drought-Like Conditions.”

Overdraft in the Pajaro Basin affects the future of farming in both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. You can read about what’s going on, starting at Page 63.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Desalination EIR Website
• PVWMA Website
• May 22, 2013 PVWMA Agenda

I am definitely in favor of listeners attending public agency meetings, and getting their hands on various environmental documents, and getting involved in the governmental decision making process that has such a profound impact on the future of our local communities.

I also advocate actual experiences in that “World of Nature” that ultimately sustains all of our human projects and activities. This Saturday, May 25th, the Watsonville Wetlands Watch will offer free guided tours of wetlands, native plant restoration areas, and a tour of the Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center. You are definitely invited. The wetland areas of our Central Coast Region are where life begins, and where life is sustained. Think about taking in one of those tours. The tours begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Resource Center on the campus of Pajaro Valley High School, 500 Harkins Slough Road, in Watsonville.

For residents of the San Lorenzo Valley, let me identify some activities that you might particularly like. County Supervisor Bruce McPherson and Transition San Lorenzo Valley are hosting a series of community planning events. The first one, focusing on Felton, runs from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. this evening, at the Felton Covered Bridge. It’s a picnic. Events are scheduled for Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek, too. Get more information on all these events below.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Felton Town Plan Event
• Ben Lomond Town Plan Event
• Boulder Creek Town Plan Event
• Watsonville Wetlands Watch Website
• Slough Restoration Days Notice
• For reservations for the wetland tours, contact Kathy Fieberling
  • Telephone: 831-345-1226
  • Email: Kathy@watsonvillewetlandswatch.org

I am trying to keep in touch with what DOGGR is doing. DOGGR is the state’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. This division is found within the California State Department of Conservation, which itself is located within the California State Resources Agency. We have a local connection, since the California State Secretary of Resources is former Central Coast Assembly Member John Laird, well known throughout the Monterey Bay Region.

At any rate, I just heard from DOGGR, which sent me an email with this title: “Hydraulic Fracturing Draft Regulations –What Happens Next?” Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a technique that produces oil and gas from rocks that didn’t seem to have the capability of producing much of anything. There is lots of interest around the region, since areas from Aromas to King City may be a target for future oil production, using fracking techniques.

DOGGR has recently conducted a series of workshops around the state, including one in Monterey. These workshops focused on a “discussion draft” of hydraulic fracturing regulations. So, DOGGR says, “What happens next?”  All comments will be taken into consideration, and then a formal rulemaking process begins. That will be a few months from now. Check below for the links you can use to get involved, or stay involved.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Hydraulic Fracturing Draft Regulations Website
• DOGGR Home Page
• The listed websites can provide access to videos of the five 2013 workshops on the discussion draft regulations, plus a copy of the discussion draft regulations with hyperlinks. The hyperlinks provide additional information regarding the content contained in the draft regulations.