No vote this time

Thursday, February 20. The full Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) met to approve the Water Resources Draft Element for inclusion in the Sonoma County General Plan 2020. However, a parade of public protest begged the CAC to think about the document in more detail before voting,. The public urged this delay despite the fact that the subcommittee had spent a full year researching and fashioning this part of Sonoma County's future water policies.

Oddly, during this entire year, of what has been obviously hard work, no one on the three-member CAC Water Resources Subcommittee (which includes a lawyer) stumbled on to SB610 and SB221.Local geohydrologist Dr. Steve Carle asked why the Water Resources Draft Element omitted mention of these laws and did not make use of the Draft Guidebook (which was submitted to the full CAC in a timely manner within the public comment period). This was the moment when Mr. Carr delivered his eminently quotable line: "It's only a draft!"

Public protest over the somewhat cursory appearance of the draft; possible conflict of interest with two subcommittee members (one a developer and the other a lawyer with ties to the development community); the lack of prohibitions to stop cities from destroying prime groundwater recharge areas, as well as numerous other perceived shortcomings, convinced the CAC to postpone a vote. The full CAC will meet again on March 6. The public may attend but not speak.

The chocolate chip cookies were especially tasty.