Opposition towards funding the Tuscan Water District is ramping up.
Landowners within its boundaries voted to create the district last year. Now they’re being asked whether they should pay an annual fee to bankroll its operations.
North State water advocates, Groundwater for Butte and AquAlliance, are asking residents to vote no on a measure to fund the Tuscan Water District.
Jefferey Obser lives on three acres in the district. He said he got angry when he opened his ballot and saw the proposed fee of $6.46 an acre to fund the district.
“As a homeowner, I find it outrageous … I just said wait a minute. Is this the Soviet Union? I have no voice here,” Obser said.
Ballots in the district are weighted by land value. Opponents say they don’t want to fund something in which they aren’t adequately represented.
Emily Alma owns 12 acres and sums up what many opponents of the assessment think.
“Our votes are insignificant compared to the larger landowners who have the controlling votes,” Alma said.
She said that means small landowners would, in effect, be excluded from decisions that could impact the water they rely on.
Alma is also with the advocacy group Groundwater for Butte. She opposes the measure and the district’s plan to manage groundwater.
“There's a real concern that if they go follow through with this plan, there's going to be a serious drought, that we could even lose our urban forest as well as our shallower wells,” Alma said.
Ahead of this month's vote, Obser, Alma and other small landowners who oppose the district have sent out fliers and campaigned against the assessment. But Rich McGowan, who’s on the board of directors for the district, said he and his family rely on the same water for their livelihood.
He’s farmed orchards in the region for decades. He said the board has everyone’s best interests in mind.
“I think there's a misconception that we control the water. We do not,” McGowan said. “If our water tables drop, then we can't continue to farm. So we have similar goals.”
McGowan and others who support the district and the assessment say the goal is to give all landowners a voice in managing the region's water.
The deadline to return ballots is Jan.15. They’ll be counted at a public meeting that same day.
If the assessment does not pass, the district will have to figure out another way to fund itself.
