On Oct. 27, the Cuyama Community Services District will host a public workshop regarding the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the formation of the Cuyama Basin Water District.
The workshop will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cuyama Elementary School cafeteria located at 2300 Highway 166 in Cuyama and will include representatives from Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, and Ventura counties.
Growers and cattle ranchers from all four counties will be included in the Cuyama Basin Water District, which was approved by the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) and is described by LAFCO Executive Director Paul Hood as the “largest ever” in the agency’s history—encompassing more than 83,000 acres.
The district, which was approved by LAFCO on Sept. 1, will be a part of a larger groundwater sustainability agency that’s mandated by SGMA.
The formation of the Cuyama Basin Water District came as a result of SGMA, which was passed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2014 and is intended to protect California’s groundwater.
The new district drew controversy among some residents who said they were being excluded from the formation process and that the new district—which they say benefits only farmers—will take all of their water.
A depleting aquifer directly underneath the Cuyama Valley is the area’s only source of water for residents and farmers.
“No individual owns water on a lifeboat,” John Coats, manager of the Cuyama Community Services District, said at a LAFCO meeting in August.
Ernest Conant, a Bakersfield attorney, is leading the effort for the formation of the district, whose members include larger growers like Bolthouse Farms, a subsidiary of the Campbell Soup Company.
Representatives from the California Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board will also be present at the workshop.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2016.