The full Citizen's Advisroy Committee (CAC) has voted to approve the Draft Water Resources Element (WRE) with many recomendations submitted by the O.W.L. Foundation.

The O.W.L. Foundation's water attorney, Ed Casey, explains.

In a significant 10 to 2 vote, the County's Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) adopted on June 19, 2003 a draft Water Resources Element (WRE) for the General Plan and recommended final approval of that Element to the Board of Supervisors.

The CAC was formed by the County to receive the public's input on the various parts of the Update to the County's General Plan and then to make recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. On the Water Resources Element (WRE), the CAC and its Water Subcommittee had been holding meetings for months to review the complicated and important water issues facing all of us in the County. Various individuals associated with the O.W.L. Foundation attended those meetings and provided critical input on those water issues. Over time, particularly in the last few months, the CAC began to incorporate into the WRE actual language that had been formulated by some of the key members of the O.W.L. team, such as Steve Carle (a well known hydrologist) and Ed Casey (O.W.L.'s water attorney). All that effort resulted in a 10 to 2 vote by the CAC to adopt the WRE and recommend its approval to the Board of Supervisors.

The changes to the WRE advocated by O.W.L. were based on the following principles:

•   In groundwater basins where there currently exists or threatens to occur a significant overdraft condition exists, the County should promptly exercise all available legal tools for management of those basins.

•   The County should protect all areas that provide groundwater recharge and encourage the development of additional recharge areas.

•   In reviewing applications for new groundwater well permits and entitlements for proposed land development projects, the County should take all actions necessary to ensure that such projects and activities do not cause or worsen groundwater overdraft, saltwater intrusion and land subsidence.

•   The County should manage its water supplies based on the overarching principle of sustainable yield.

•   Given the serious water supply issues facing the County, particularly in the Santa Rosa Plain area, the County should take all actions necessary to ensure that our water supplies are used to first meet existing demands and to correct any groundwater overdraft conditions before our water supplies are used to serve new growth.

Although the CAC vote represents a significant step in the direction of proper management of our water resources, there is still work to be done.

In addition to advocating for those changes to the WRE proposed by O.W.L. that were not adopted by the CAC, the CAC's version of the WRE must still be approved by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. So your support is more necessary than ever!

Edward J. Casey, Esq.