Why put off the inevitable? Invite state water board to take over Paso basin management

In the wake of the spectacular defeat of the proposed Paso Robles water management district, what’s next for the Paso Robles basin?

Here are the choices:

▪  Do nothing for now.

▪  Give the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors — acting as the board of the County Flood Control and Water Conservation District — the opportunity to take over.

▪  Invite the State Water Resources Control Board to manage the basin.

Some officials are counseling against rushing into a decision; North County Supervisor Frank Mecham told The Tribune he wants to take a break to figure out if there are other options. But if there were other options, wouldn’t those have been apparent during the months of discussion that culminated in the proposed hybrid water management district?

So why rehash? Given the lopsided vote, it’s clear there is no political will among rural Paso Robles basin residents to form a new, local entity.

That leaves two choices: management by the county or the state.

County supervisors Lynn Compton and Debbie Arnold support a county takeover. They say it’s obvious from the election results that residents don’t want another layer of government “to do the job the county’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District has performed for more than 70 years.”

Here’s our problem with that interpretation: If the district had been performing the job for more than 70 years, the basin wouldn’t be in the poor shape it’s in now.

That doesn’t mean today’s county Public Works Department is incapable of managing the basin.

To the contrary, we have full confidence in its ability to do the job. But that’s going to require money, which leads us to the next problem: Judging by the election results, voters aren’t inclined to authorize a tax that would generate sufficient revenue for the county to manage the basin.

Consider that only 22 percent of voters supported Measure A, a parcel tax that would have generated $1 million per year to manage the basin — a budget that included staff, office expenses and development of a state-required basin management plan.

In decades of reporting on tax elections, that’s easily the single worst result we’ve ever seen.

And to make matters worse, the measure needed to be approved by two-thirds of voters to pass.

Some see the failed tax measure as a further repudiation of the new water district, which was supported by just 26 percent of eligible voters. Yet, the two measures were not inexorably linked; had the tax measure passed and the district formation vote failed, the money still could have gone to the county.

So what purpose would be served by going back to voters with another tax measure, besides wasting $250,000 in taxpayer money on election costs?

Even if the $1 million budget were trimmed — reducing the cost for individual property owners — it would take a PR miracle to get another tax passed in the relatively short amount of time left. (A local basin management agency must be in place by June 30, 2017, or the state will step in.)

Besides, even before the balloting period ended, all five supervisors indicated they would be highly reluctant to put another Paso Robles basin tax on the ballot, should the first measure fail.

And without adequate financial support from basin residents, the county would have to dip into the general fund to manage the Paso Robles basin. That can’t happen.

That leads us to the third option, state control.

We don’t like the idea of ceding control to Sacramento. We believe those who live and work in the basin should be making decisions about its management, which is why we supported formation of the district.

The voters didn’t see it that way. They spoke, and they spoke loudly.

Speculating that voters really wanted the county to take over is merely that — speculation.

We see little sense in sinking another $250,000 of taxpayer funds into another tax election that’s bound to fail. That’s on top of approximately $1 million the county already spent on activities relating to basin management, district formation and the election.

We urge the Board of Supervisors to honor the voters’ decision. Reach out now to the State Water Resources Control Board.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Why put off the inevitable? Invite state water board to take over Paso basin management."