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Supervisors, county staff discuss new state law for managing groundwater resources
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received an update from staff on important new legislation that is establishing rules for managing the state's groundwater resources.
County Counsel Anita Grant took the report on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to the board.
The act is a three-bill legislative package signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last September to create, for the first time in California's history, a framework for sustainably managing the state's groundwater.
Grant called the legislation “really historic.”
“Most of the law on groundwater has been through judicial decisions,” she told Lake County News in a separate interview.
While there has been some earlier legislation, “This is the first real concentrated effort,” she said.
And while California often is considered a leader on social, economic and environmental matters, in the case of groundwater, that's not the case.
“Most states already have something like this, so California is kind of picking up the rear a bit,” said Grant, suggesting, “It's probably long overdue.”
In her Tuesday report to the board, Grant explained that the legislation prioritizes groundwater basins that are currently overdrafted, requiring a number of tasks be completed, including identifying local groundwater management agencies by 2017; creating sustainability management plans for overdrafted basins by 2020; creating sustainability plans for other high and medium priority basins not in overdraft by 2022; and achieving sustainability in all high and medium priority basins by 2040.
She said staff has attended meetings on the legislation, with county agencies attempting to look at the issues as a group.
Grant and Water Resources Director Scott De Leon explained to the board that Lake County has no water basins in the high priority category. However, there are two in the medium priority category: Big Valley and Scotts Valley. As such, De Leon said staff's efforts will be focused on those basins.
The California Department of Water Resources' Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Web page, which lists groundwater basin prioritization, shows that the rest of the county's groundwater basins all have overall basin priority rankings of “very low.”
Those remaining basins include Burns Valley, Clear Lake Cache, Collayomi Valley, Coyote Valley, Gravelly Valley, High Valley, Long Valley, Lower Lake Valley, Middle Creek, North Fork Cache Creek and Upper Lake Valley.
The county's work ahead includes creating a groundwater sustainability agency, which De Leon said will be a point of discussion before the board in the near future.
He said he and his staff will be bringing recommendations to the board for direction and approval for how to set up such agencies locally.
De Leon said Water Resources has groundwater elevation data going back to the 1960s for Big Valley and Scotts Valley. He's previously presented hydrographs of the basins to the board, and may take that information to the state.
De Leon – who is a member of a working group set up by the California State Association of Counties and the Rural County Representatives of California to work on issues relating to the act – told the supervisors that the discussions will be ongoing and significant.
“Groundwater is becoming more and more of an issue,” he said.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he appreciated county staff bringing the issue to the board. But he was worried about where the state and its agencies are in the process.
“While we're having the discussion, Sacramento is ready to move way ahead on this,” Brown said, explaining that he doesn't believe the state is going to let a small county like Lake interfere with its goals, which he said include protecting water for Southern California.
“I want to make sure that our interests are protected,” Brown said, adding that while Northern California is conserving, if you fly over Los Angeles and its green golf courses, there doesn't appear to be any water shortage.
“We need to stay on top of this with our own state legislators,” Brown said, as he didn't believe the state's agencies aren't working in Lake County's best interests.
Supervisor Jim Steele questioned if the county's water basins have long-term overdraft issues.
De Leon said there were neither long-term nor short-term overdraft issues, although there have been failed wells and, in response to followup questions from Steele, minor subsidence in some areas.
Brown said the subsidence is minimal when considering that the tests have been taken over the last century.
For his part, Steele – a retired state biologist – told his colleagues, “I'm not so sure we're the big prize here. The Central Valley's the prize.”
Brown raised concerns about the state coming north to take water, with Steele pointing out in turn that water from Lake County wells already is leaving the area.
Board Chair Anthony Farrington said the county has seen incidences of wells drying up due to the drought, with wellheads in some areas higher due to the ground dropping.
Farrington said if the county doesn't manage its water resources and show that it's doing a good job, the state will move to take over.
Brown said he didn't believe the state cared what plan the county comes up with to manage its groundwater, suggesting the state is trying to pacify county officials to make them think they're relevant.
Supervisor Jim Comstock raised the issue about septic tank regulations that the state attempted to implement several years ago, which was stopped by public outcry.
“Right now, water is a big deal,” Comstock said, referring to a temporary service connection moratorium in Hidden Valley Lake due to water issues with the state.
Comstock applauded what county staff was attempting to do in responding to the new state legislation.
“This is not new to us. We are very familiar with it,” and have been working on it, De Leon said, adding, “It's a high priority issue for us,” although one that isn't funded by the state.
Farrington said the county should bring up issues with the unfunded mandate in the new rules. “I think we should fight it every step of the way.”
Grant told Lake County News later Tuesday that people from particular regions are going to want to work together on planning and management.
“It's going to be for everyone – from now on – the big issue, I think,” she said.
And, she pointed out, it's important to get started now, as 2017 – when the county has to identify local groundwater management agencies – “will be here before we know it.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
California water basin prioritization
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Clearlake City Council to discuss planning commission seats, housing element
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Selecting two planning commissioners and an update to the city's housing element are among the items on the Clearlake City Council's agenda this week.
The council will meet for a 5:30 p.m. closed session to discuss a case of potential litigation before convening in public session beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
At the start of the meeting, the council will present proclamations designating April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, and April 2 as Autism Awareness Day.
Continued from a discussion earlier this month, the council will discuss applications from three people for the two expired seats on the Clearlake Planning Commission.
Applicants for the three seats include Mike Vandiver, who currently sits on the commission; former city planner Nathalie Antus, who now works as an associate planner for the county of Lake; and Dirk Slooten, owner of a local firm specializing in surveying and engineering.
Alvaro Valencia, the other commission incumbent whose seat is up for reappointment, did not submit an application to remain on the commission.
Also on Thursday night the council will hold two public hearings, the first to confirm assessments for administrative penalties for failure to abate public nuisances, with the second regarding the city's housing element update.
Other items under council business will include acceptance of the annual audit for fiscal year 2013-14, a presentation on the code enforcement process and consideration of an adopt-a-park policy recommended earlier this month to the council by the Clearlake Planning Commission.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers, minutes of the Feb. 26 and March 12 regular meetings, and consideration of adoption of Resolution 2015-05, designating applicant's agent for California Disaster Assistance Act funding for the 2014 Statewide December Winter Storms.
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Former mayor sues Clearlake over new marijuana cultivation ordinance
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake's former mayor, her husband and another woman have filed suit against the city of Clearlake over a new ordinance that bans marijuana cultivation, a measure that they claim violates the state constitution.
The suit was filed Friday in Lake County Superior Court by San Francisco-based attorney Joseph Elford on behalf of Jeri Spittler, Anthony Spittler and Robin Farnham, and is supported by marijuana activist group Cal NORML.
Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe said the city was served with the suit on Monday afternoon.
Phillipe said the suit has been forwarded to City Attorney Ryan Jones – who also authored the new ordinance – for review.
Following two lengthy and contentious public hearings, the Clearlake City Council – citing concerns about public safety and the impacts on neighborhoods – voted on Feb. 26 to enact the marijuana cultivation ban ordinance.
It replaced an ordinance that had gone into effect in January 2014 that prohibited commercial grows and grows on vacant lots, and limited the number of plants to six on parcels smaller than a half acre and as many as 48 plants on properties 40 acres or larger.
City officials said that earlier ordinance had lacked a strong enough enforcement mechanism, and the result was that the number of grows in the city skyrocketed in 2014.
At the Feb. 26 meeting, Jeri Spittler had promised the council that if it passed the ordinance, “I will be the first one to litigate this with you in court.”
The suit she, her husband and Farnham have filed against the city explains that all three are marijuana patients.
Jeri Spittler suffers from fibromyalgia and Anthony Spittler is in remission from stage four throat and neck cancer. Court documents state that they have grown 12 plants at their residence.
Farnham uses the drug to treat symptoms associated with a brain aneurysm she suffered five years ago. The suit said her spouse and primary caregiver, Mike Smith, has grown six plants at their residence for her medical use.
The suit indicates that all three plaintiffs grew marijuana “in the past,” but does not give the timeframe.
In the case of the Spittlers, the plant amounts that the suit states they grew are twice what was allowed under the previous ordinance, which also prohibited grows within 600 feet of child care centers, a provision which Jeri Spittler had opposed while on the Clearlake City Council. The Spittlers' property is less than 600 feet from an NCO Head Start program, according to a Google map of the city.
All three plaintiffs claim that they do not know how they will access medical marijuana under the ordinance. While the city still has dispensaries, the Spittlers and Farnham said that obtaining marijuana through dispensaries is cost prohibitive for them.
In the case filing Elford argues that the city's ordinance violates the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, which allowed qualified patients to cultivate and possess marijuana for their medical needs.
“This Ordinance conflicts with State law, unconstitutionally amends a voter-approved initiative and is vague, so it should be invalidated,” the suit states.
The suit states that the Clearlake ordinance “completely prohibits qualified medical marijuana patients from cultivating and, arguable, possessing the medicine they need for their personal medical use in accordance with State Law.”
Included is the ordinance's definition of cultivation, which it states “is the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, processing, or storage of one or more marijuana plants or any part thereof in any location.”
At the Feb. 26 Clearlake City Council meeting, the mention of “storage” in that passage of the ordinance was raised by numerous marijuana advocates, as well as Councilman Bruno Sabatier, as a concern as it related to possessing the drug.
At that time, Jones explained that the language – including the reference to storage – was part of an accepted definition that has been used by other cities.
In a written statement, Elford called the Clearlake ordinance “extremely cruel” as well as illegal.
“Both the state electorate and legislature have stated that medical marijuana patients may cultivate the medicine they need for their personal medical use,” he said. “This ordinance conflicts with both the spirit and letter of California law, so it should be struck down as preempted by those laws.”
If he doesn't win in Lake County Superior Court, Elford indicated in his statement that he intends to appeal the ruling to the First Appellate District.
That court is not bound by the Third Appellate District decision in Maral v. City of Live Oak, which upheld the Sacramento Valley city of Live Oak to ban medical marijuana cultivation. The city was sued by patient James Maral.
A year ago this month, the California Supreme Court denied a petition filed by Elford to hear the Maral case, upholding the Third Appellate District decision.
In a March 2014 statement on the Supreme Court’s petition denial, Cal NORML said that the Maral decision didn't preclude the possibility of future challenges to cultivation bans in another appellate district, but the organization noted that plaintiffs in such cases would face difficult odds in light of the Supreme Court decision not to hear the Maral suit.
The Spittler case is the third suit Elford has filed in Lake County on behalf of marijuana patients.
Currently, he is representing a group of plaintiffs who sued the county of Lake last year over former Sheriff Frank Rivero's warrantless searches of properties in the Clearlake Oaks and Spring Valley areas and abatement of marijuana grows found there.
Elford also sued the county of Lake in 2012 on behalf of Don Merrill and three anonymous plaintiffs over an interim marijuana cultivation ordinance, which resulted in a temporary injunction that delayed the ordinance's implementation to the start of 2013.
In the spring of 2013, the county filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was dropped that June. A local judge ruled later in the year that Merrill was not entitled to the more than $155,000 in legal fees that court documents indicated he was seeking.
In related news, a signature gathering effort has reportedly been under way since the city of Clearlake's marijuana cultivation ordinance was passed in order to place a referendum on the city ballot.
Phillipe said she was notified by referendum proponents of the effort. She said they have until 5 p.m. Thursday, March 26, to submit the necessary petitions.
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031915 Spittler v. City of Clearlake
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Westside Community Park Committee takes suggestions on proposed equestrian facility at weekend meeting
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The road that leads through Westside Community Park in Lakeport starts out as pavement, then turns to gravel and, finally, becomes a dirt path that winds around the property and leads to what once was an orchard.
Its this 4.5-acre area that the Westside Community Park Committee – the nonprofit organization that is developing the park, which is owned by the city of Lakeport – hopes to use for a top-of-the-line public equestrian facility.
On Saturday morning about two dozen community members – the majority of them horse enthusiasts – followed Westside Park Road back to the site, where an informal meeting to field community suggestions took place.
Westside Community Park Committee Chairman Dennis Rollins – accompanied by several members of a subcommittee working on the proposal – gave a 15-minute overview of the process and invited those who attended to write down their suggestions.
In August 2014, Rollins and the committee received the Lakeport City Council's unanimous approval to begin the process of developing the equestrian area, as Lake County News has reported.
With more horse enthusiasts reported to be relocating to Lake County thanks to its affordable property prices and great riding areas, the public arena is believed to be an opportunity for holding events that will draw not just locals but others from around the region and the state.
Besides suggestions and community support, the committee will need money to pay for the project, which will require an extension of the park's paved road and water, according to Rollins.
“Access is expensive,” Rollins noted.
As Rollins explained Saturday, just what the project will look like hasn't yet been determined, which is the reason for the community outreach.
The proposals so far for the facility have included a large arena and round pen, plus horse camping sites, parking for horse trailers and rigs, an obstacle training course and a trailhead leading to a nearby Bureau of Land Management area.
The goal, he said, is to have a facility that will fit the needs and wants of local equestrians.
“We want it to be something that the horse community will utilize,” he said.
In order to fund the project, Rollins said the park committee will pursue grants and donations, as the committee has some money but not a lot, and not enough to fund the project.
They're also seeking an engineer and a surveyor who would be willing to donate time to the project, Rollins said.
Along with Rollins, subcommittee members including Chair Carol Thorn and Jaxan Christensen were on hand to answer questions from community members and walk the property.
In a followup interview, Rollins told Lake County News that he was very pleased with the Saturday meeting turnout, which he said represented a variety of equestrian disciplines.
The two most common comments or concerns that were raised were that there be adequate pull-through parking and that the arena be able to accommodate a variety of disciplines. Rollins said participants also indicated that size of the area and the type of footing are the factors to keep in mind to accomplish that goal.
Other suggestions offered to the subcommittee Saturday include a warm up arena/pen, a trail course, separate gates for horses and people, chutes, bathing area for horses, announcers stand, concession stand and camping sites with hookups, Rollins said.
He said he hoped that those who attended will share the committee's vision with their respective groups.
“Perhaps it will generate invitations for our subcommittee members to attend those organizations' meetings to continue spreading the word and hear from potentials users,” he said.
Visit the Westside Community Park Committee's Web site at http://www.westsidecommunitypark.org/ for more information about the project and the park.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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