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Report on the "Calaveras Water and Land Use:
Today and Tomorrow" forum
from John Adams

The November 8 water and land use forum, funded primarily by The Sierra Nevada Alliance and sponsored by SNA, CCWD and John Adams's seminar and speaking practice, Eartheart Enterprises, was a big success. Supporting co-sponsors also included FoCuS, EPFW, The Foothill Conservancy, Ebbetts Pass Scenic By-way, CSERC and the Central Sierra Conservation Resource District and CAP/CPC.

Approximately 70 people attended the forum, and represented a vast diversity of the local population. Present were county supervisors, county planners, US Forest Service rangers, contractors, farmers, retailers, tourism workers, and interested citizens. A number of FoCuS members were present in the full house.

Both The Union Democrat (November 10) and The Calaveras Enterprise (November 11) covered the conference and produced front page stories.

The goals of the forum were to:

1. Develop an awareness of some of the most prominent threats/risks to water quality, supply and watershed health in the region.
2. Initiate and/or encourage an on-going network of conversations between the public, water districts, local officials, and land use planners about watershed health - especially in regards to the impact of growth and development on watershed health.
3. 3) Educate the public and decision makers about the kind of language in a General Plan Water Element that is helpful for protecting water quality, supply and watershed health.

We started high level, with inputs from Patricia Hickson of SNA and Laura Podolsky of LGC discussing the importance of watershed health and the potential high or low impacts of development on how watersheds function.

After a break, Bob Dean, President of the CCWD Board of Commissioners, presented more specifics on watershed health and on the challenges of delivering water and transporting waste water in a county that has its population so scattered.

We then spent a little over 30 minutes for Q&A with the first three speakers.

Following Lunch, David Wood, Board Member of the Blue Lake Springs Mutual Water Company, and a hydro-geologist, presented a financial perspective on the difficulties of operating small water agencies (such as his) which cannot afford needed major infrastructure renovations or capital improvements.

Next, Ed Pattison, who is another hydrologist, and who works for CCWD in guiding the development of the water element, provided a great deal of background information on why the water element is so important, and also painted a challenging scenario for the future that the water element will have to be capable of addressing.

After all the presentations were completed, John Adams, Education Director for the Foothill Collaborative for sustainability, and MC for this event, guided the participants and speakers through a breakout group activity to identify the priority focuses and actions going forward. These are summarized on below.

SUMMARY OF BREAKOUT GROUPS'
IDENTIFICATION OF PRIORITIES FOR WATER ELEMENT FOLLOW-UP

• Build an awareness of the need for extensive collaboration.
• We have lots of water and should learn to use it many times before it runs down to the valley.
• Provide incentives for "greener" local communities - educate individuals in the communities and stimulate them to take action.
• Build close to where the water is flowing.
• Increased cooperation among all water and wastewater agencies - we are too "Balkanized" at present - consolidation is needed now - economies of scale are not possible in the present fractured water services situation.
• Preserve forestlands for increased water storage - integrate forest and water stewardship.
• Build public interest through regular communication and forums like this one.
• Ensure public participation in water element planning - create a water-wise plan and enforce it!
• Limits in water rights definitions.
• Improved data gathering and data analysis.
• Plan for water-wise "smart growth".
• Development for future growth can't be like we did for past growth.
• Broadcast relationships among infrastructure, costs, and potential new developments.
• Decision makers must be preventive, proactive, and creative.
• SPI - clear cutting their holdings - must be brought into the water conversation.
• Explore mini-hydro for power generation.
• Explore small group septic systems (STEP).
• Store water in the old miners' ditches.
• Optimize natural infrastructure - our natural environment provides extensive ecological services.
• Have contamination contingencies in place<./li>
• Capitalize on country-wide atmosphere of change.
• Share best water management practices with other counties up and down the Sierras.
• In new development, leverage existing infrastructure, develop first in existing parcels.