• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Inconvenient Truths Raised at Water Meetings

January 17, 2015 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Valley Citizen Neil Hudson
Valley Citizen Neil Hudson

Assemblyman Adam Gray apparently thought a visit to Friday’s Water Summit on Crows Landing Road in Stanislaus County would be an opportunity to score easy political credits. He must not have realized Valley citizens are rapidly becoming informed enough to ask tough questions.

So when Neil Hudson, who is a member of the Stanislaus County Water Advisory Committee (WAC), asked Gray whether the state would give local authorities enough power to enforce new groundwater regulations, Gray was flummoxed.

“I’m not prepared to answer that,” he replied.

After that, Gray’s only option was a hasty exit. Today’s key issues on groundwater are governance and enforcement. Politicians who fail to address those issues will lose their audience.

In addition to serving on the WAC, Neil Hudson is president of the Stanislaus Water Coalition, a group of citizens especially concerned with problems posed by industrial-sized wells in the foothills of eastern Stanislaus County. Earlier last week, Hudson’s group hosted a meeting in Oakdale where Stanislaus County Supervisors Bill O’Brien and Terry Withrow addressed questions raised by local citizens.

In response to a question about enforcement and regulations, Withrow said, “We’ve got to be flexible.”

“There comes a point when it’s so flexible you’re not really regulating anything,” said Brad Barker, Conservation Chair for Yokuts Sierra Club.

Barker is only one among a growing number of informed Valley residents who realize pumping groundwater threatens public resources by taking water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Friday, when representatives from Oakdale and Riverbank reported that their groundwater levels had remained stable during the drought, Barker and others figured the probable explanation was both cities’ locations near the Stanislaus River.

Seeking confirmation, Barker asked Turlock’s Garner Reynolds whether Oakdale’s and Riverbank’s stable groundwater levels were most likely because the two cities were located along the Stanislaus River. Reynolds is Turlock’s Public Works Director. His answer was, “That’s a fair assumption.”

Despite growing knowledge about effects of pumping on surface water, politicians haven’t shown they’re yet ready to protect the public interest. Residents who’ve had their wells go dry have gotten most of the attention, but given the volume of pumping, it’s only a matter of time before more Valley citizens realize their own water rights are being abused.

Mike Tozzi, a Water Coalition member* who attended last Monday’s meeting in Oakdale is among several east side residents who’ve had their residential wells run dry. His remarks may presage more widespread alarm over pumping thousands of acre feet of groundwater that is ultimately dependent on surface water for recharge.

“It makes you wonder what the new definition will be for a shallow well,” said Tozzi. “No family should have to be the victim of any industry.”

As more and more information about effects on public water resources comes to light, pumping groundwater will require much stricter governance and regulation. And as the public becomes more and more aware, politicians had better be prepared to address difficult questions. The alternative is ongoing exploitation of the public trust aided by politicians as unprepared to respond as Adam Gray was last Friday.

*Mr. Tozzi has informed us that he is a former member of the Stanislaus Water Coalition. We appreciate the correction.

 

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Neil Hudson, Stanislaus County Water Advisory Committee, Stanislaus Water Coalition

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here'
California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
California’s coronavirus strain is more transmissible than its predecessors, is more resistant to vaccines and may cause more severe cases of COVID-19.
www.latimes.com
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden's Sweeping COVID Package
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden’s Sweeping COVID Package
More than 150 business leaders from various industries have signed a letter backing President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP's voters
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP’s voters
www.usatoday.com
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
In the growing community of charismatic Christian prophecy, faith in Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House is a new dividing line.
www.politico.com
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
The New York congresswoman said she would travel to Houston to highlight the problems faced by Texans hit by power outages and freezing weather.
www.newsweek.com
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
How the right-wing talk radio icon corrupted the Republican Party, spread hate, racism, and lies, and laid the groundwork for Trumpism
www.rollingstone.com
?I Don?t Trust the People Above Me?: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection
“I Don’t Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection
Interviews with 19 current and former officers show how failures of leadership and communication put hundreds of Capitol cops at risk and allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.
www.propublica.org
Opinion | Trump’s Non-Vindication
Opinion | Trump’s Non-Vindication
He may run again, but he won’t win another national election.
www.wsj.com
Convicted or not, Trump is history – it's Biden who's changing America | Robert Reich
Convicted or not, Trump is history – it’s Biden who’s changing America | Robert Reich
Republican infighting has created a political void into which Democrats are stepping with far-reaching reforms
www.theguardian.com
Lancet: Trump Policies Responsible for at least 200,000 COVID Deaths (vital/detailed/devastating/referenced) ? Veterans Today | Military Foreign Affairs Policy Journal for Clandestine Services
Lancet: Trump Policies Responsible for at least 200,000 COVID Deaths (vital/detailed/devastating/referenced) Veterans Today | Military Foreign Affairs Policy Journal for Clandestine Services
www.veteranstoday.com
Trump?s Lawyers Mocked Democracy and Reasoned Debate
Trump’s Lawyers Mocked Democracy and Reasoned Debate
Rationality and demagoguery fought it out on Senate floor, but the better arguments won’t convince most Republicans.
www.thenation.com
Biden Halts Trump Rule That Gutted a Landmark Bird Protection Law
Biden Halts Trump Rule That Gutted a Landmark Bird Protection Law
The rollback of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was set to take effect February 8, but now the new rule is in trouble.
www.audubon.org

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design