Water was the topic of discussion at a public outreach meeting in Colusa Tuesday night. About 120 people showed up to listen to what state and county officials had to say about water law, the state’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and Colusa County’s current spring groundwater conditions.
According to Mary Fahey, water resources coordinator in the Department of Agriculture in Colusa County, the results showed that although things look grim overall due to the drought, this year’s levels weren’t as bad as some might have thought.
“What we’ve seen from our monitoring network is the wells that we’re looking at are pretty much the same this time now as they were this time last year,” Fahey said.
Fahey said while groundwater levels are down, they vary widely throughout the county. An area south of Williams, near Arbuckle, is the only that’s seeing regular, concerning decline.
Fahey said the county has no reason to believe any areas in the county are seeing subsidence, or caving-in of the ground. Overall the meeting’s message was that residents need to be engaged and work together to maintain local groundwater control.
