Lakeport >> With debate lasting well past the allotted timeframe, the first item on the Lake County Planning Commission’s Thursday agenda ended up back on the drawing board.
The item up before the commission was a proposal by special districts to pipe water to the unincorporated area of south Lakeport along Soda Bay Road over some 5 miles from the Big Valley aquifer and the wells of the Kelseyville water district. The topic spurred lengthy commentary between the concerned public and representatives of Lake County Special Districts.
All of the public commentators were opposed to the idea.
The two main concerns brought up by the public, mostly composed of residents of Kelseyville, dealt with the availability of water within the aquifer and the potential risks to future growth the extra load may cause, and the lack of information provided in the Initial Study of the project on an alternative option proposed that would establish two new wells and appropriate equipment to supply water to the area instead of tapping into the Kelseyville water sources.
It was suggested by numerous people, including a representative of the city, that Lakeport and the county should consider annexing that area into the city proper, which would enable the city to then provide water through the city’s water system directly to that area — a suggestion that went unaddressed by the planning commission.
The planning commission did, however, concur with the public’s assessment that more information needed to be provided within the Initial Study before they felt comfortable approving the proposal to be passed on the Board of Supervisors for consideration. A motion was passed with all five commission members voting in favor of having special districts redraft the documents to include more extensive information on the financial and ecological impacts on the well option, information that was either vague within the originally document or left out entirely.
Special districts estimated it would take them around six weeks to prepare the revised documents and make it available to the public. The commission also instructed special districts to make more effort within the Kelseyville community to raise awareness about the proposal and its potential ramifications for that community, with a specific note to meet with the Kelseyville Business Association as soon as possible.
