The Santa Cruz County Water Advisory Commission meets on Wednesday, July 16th, to discuss the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan  (or IRWMP) now being prepared for the Santa Cruz County Region. The meeting will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Large Auditorium, located in the basement of the County Health Center at 1080 Emeline Avenue, in Santa Cruz. You are definitely invited to attend, and it would be hard to think of a more important topic than regional water planning.

The State Department of Water Resources, which is overseeing the preparation of Regional Water Management Plans throughout the state, has expedited the schedule for plan completion for those jurisdictions that would like to apply for drought funding assistance. The IRWMP must be submitted with a drought funding grant application by July 21st, with partner agencies required to adopt the Plan by September 9th. Tentatively, the IRWMP is scheduled for adoption by the Santa Cruz City Council on July 22nd, by the Scotts Valley Water District Board on August 14th, and by the County Board of Supervisors on August 19th. Other agencies will consider the IRWMP in August or early September.

The July 16th meeting will be your best opportunity to learn about this critically important Plan. There is a link to more information below.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Integrated Regional Water Management Website
• For more information contact:
  County Water Resources Division Director John Ricker
  Telephone: 831-454-2750

I recently received a bulletin about a meeting that will be held tomorrow, Wednesday July 16th, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the offices of the Castroville Community Services District. The District Building is located at 11499 Geil Street in Castroville. You are definitely encouraged to attend the meeting tomorrow. I am reliably informed that pizza and drinks will be provided.

The email I received about this meeting quoted a first grade school teacher, who imparted an important life lesson to his students. He told them: “If you would like to G.E.T. you have to A.S.K.” Always good advice, in any context. In this case, the Central Coast Wetlands Group, which is leading the meeting on Wednesday, is hoping that those in attendance will make their priorities known with respect to open space, trails, and other kinds of free recreation. If you would like to see open space, habitat, and water quality improvements in and around Castroville, this meeting would be a good opportunity to voice your opinions about what you want.

Just in case you would like to voice your requests in another, and perhaps even more pertinent context, the Board of Directors of the Castroville Community Services District will be discussing the District’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year in a meeting to be held this afternoon, at 4:30, at the District offices.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Website – Central Coast Wetlands Group
• For More Information Contact Sarah Stoner-Duncan – sstoner@mlml.calstate.edu

Policy and permits are both involved in the land use approval process. Here is the way it is supposed to work. After lots of public discussion, a local government agency with land use approval authority adopts a set of policies, enshrined in the local General Plan, and then adopts a set of ordinances, to implement the General Plan policies. Individuals who want to do something within that jurisdiction apply for a permit. The jurisdiction then reviews the permit request against the policy requirements in the General Plan and the implementing ordinances, and then either issues a permit, turns down the permit request, or approves the permit request with appropriate conditions.

In the real world, poorly-defined and uncertain policies lead to delays, and can make the permit process a major headache for all concerned. Small businesses, in particular, are often frustrated by the permit process (which can also include non-land use related permits, too).

Open Counter is a web-based effort, intended to help make it easier for businesses to go through the permit process. The system is now being utilized by a number of local governments. The latest adopter is the City of Seaside. The cities of Salinas, Gonzales, Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley are also utilizing the “Open Counter” system.

For more information, check the links at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Open Counter Information
• Seaside Open Counter Web Portal

Here’s an invitation to attend a meeting this evening that will focus on the possible development of a passenger rail service for Santa Cruz County. That would be pretty exciting, wouldn’t it? Well, in all honesty, there are different opinions! Some people think that setting up a passenger rail system would be horrible, and nothing more than a costly boondoggle.

In fact, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is holding the meeting tonight partly to help the Commission understand exactly who likes what, with respect to the possible institution of a passenger rail service in Santa Cruz County. That service could, at least potentially, link Davenport to Santa Cruz, to Watsonville along the existing rail line that is now in public ownership.

I really encourage you to show up at the meeting this evening, to express your thoughts, and to learn more about what kind of intra-county rail service might become available in the future. Tonight’s meeting will be held at the Live Oak Senior Center, 1777 Capitola Road, at 17th Avenue, starting at 6:30.

The Commission would also like you to take an online survey, which gets pretty specific about exactly how you, personally, might utilize a passenger rail system, if one were developed. I took the survey, and I thought it was a lot of fun – and also quite informative.

Get the links you need below. And think about attending that meeting tonight, at 6:30 p.m.!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• July 17, 2014 Passenger Rail Workshop
• Fact Sheet on Passenger Rail Study
• Online Survey on Passenger Rail

Here is a reminder: There is a presentation this evening, at the Louden Nelson Center in Santa Cruz, on “Conservation Lessons From Australia.” It should be good. There is more information below

Today, let me highlight a recent article from Forbes, a national business publication. The article is titled “How Silicon Valley Could Revolutionize Salinas Valley, America’s Farming Capital.” That’s a pretty impressive title, and it gives credit to the Salinas Valley that I bet lots of KUSP listeners haven’t really internalized. The Salinas Valley really does have the right to claim that it is “America’s Farming Capital.”

Last year, in 2013, Monterey County generated almost four and one half billon dollars from its agricultural production. There isn’t a more productive agricultural area anywhere else in the United States. The Salinas Valley is America’s “Farming Capital.” You can tell Dorothy: that capital isn’t in Kansas anymore!

The Forbes article discusses how new technologies are likely to cause a revolution in agriculture, with a big payoff in the Salinas Valley. It’s worth a read! If nothing else, what Forbes has to say ought to make us into energetic defenders of the agricultural land that makes it all possible. New superstores and subdivisions just don’t pack anywhere near the same economic punch.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Conservation Lessons From Australia
• Forbes Magazine Article on Salinas Valley Agriculture
• 2013 Monterey County Crop Report