Ballot argument in favor of Paso groundwater Measures A and B

Creating the Paso Robles Basin Water District by voting “yes” on Measures A and B is the only way to guarantee local control and management of our water.

A new state law (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) mandates that the Paso Robles basin be brought into balance — bringing outflows into equilibrium with inflows. This is the biggest change to groundwater law in the past 100 years.

Voting “yes” on Measure A to fund compliance with SGMA ensures that we keep local control and keep the state out. The state has indicated that it will step in and manage the basin if it is not done locally. The state has also indicated that it will impose a significantly higher tax on property owners within the basin to pay for the management of the basin than it would cost us to do it locally.

A locally managed water district guarantees local control of our water, keeps the state from taking control of our wells and is the most cost-effective way to comply with the new state law and manage our water basin.

Measure A is fair to everyone in the basin with large landowners with irrigated crops paying for the vast majority of the costs of the district. A residential landowner with 10 acres without irrigated crops will pay less than $40 a year.

No matter what happens, an agency will charge us to comply with this law. Voting for Measure A will ensure local control and management, and it will keep the state from charging property owners whatever it thinks is needed.

We need to do what’s right for our community and ensure the people who live here are making decisions about our wells and our water.

Vote “yes” on Measures A and B.

Vote “yes” for our water, our community and our district.

Submitted by Dee Lacey, Paul Clark, Bill Stansbury, Bill Spencer and Jim Irving of Yes on Paso Robles Basin Water District

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Ballot argument in favor of Paso groundwater Measures A and B."