At their Sept. 5 meeting the Board of Supervisors took some sensible temporary steps to address the looming water emergency in Spring Valley. In an area where capacity is commonly stretched to the limits throughout the summer, leaks are said to be rife, a few thirsty users consume up to a hundred times the water needed by an average household, and new houses sprout up constantly, adopting an “urgency ordinance” might have been a wise course of action, even without a power failure pumping crisis during July”s killer heat wave.
The ultimate decision to impose a moratorium on new hookups until reasonable plans for capacity expansion have been devised, ban the use of public water for filling swimming pools and hot tubs, and dramatically increase the surcharge for water usage over a basic 600 cubic feet monthly allotment, seems fair and prudent.
Supervisors Farrington”s and Smith”s contributions to the outcome were both particularly valuable. On the other hand, District 3 Supervisor Gary Lewis”s decision to wait until I had left the podium before taking issue with remarks made on behalf of the Sierra Club Lake Group resulted in a misrepresentation of our views while precluding the dialog that normally occurs during Board meetings. For example, mention of the inadequacy of the Spring Valley access road did not refer to sharp curves or potholes, but to obvious landslides both above and below the highway, with boulders the size of boxcars poised to come hurtling down on the roadbed, and, more generally, to the folly of allowing dense residential development in an isolated valley with only one way in or out. Given the audible enthusiasm with which a roomful of District 3 residents received Sierra Club comments, his behavior may prove to be as unwise as it was discourteous.
Victoria Brandon
Chair, Sierra Club Lake Group
Lower Lake
