Jamie Coston and Gail Altieri: We were civil in our meeting, despite assault on our lifestyle

The Stanislaus Groundwater Alliance Committee would like to offer a few comments regarding the meeting in Knights Ferry on June 25 and the subsequent column by Bee Opinions Page Editor Mike Dunbar.

In his article, Dunbar said we need to listen to senior hydrologist Vance Kennedy. We did and we do.

In an article in The Bee on May 9 (“Yes, groundwater is interconnected,” Page 1D), Kennedy wrote that the situation we’re in today could have been prevented, should have been prevented and some of it can still be prevented (dust mitigation, noise mitigation, potential erosion mitigation, etc.).

Stanislaus Supervisor Bill O’Brien’s response was to cite the new county ordinance requiring a California Envrionmental Quality Act-type review for new deep-well permits. But the ordinance he referred to came after O’Brien and the board did virtually nothing to review the impacts of the unprecedented 400-plus well permits the county has issued since 2012. They knew darn well what those deep ag wells would be used for – new almond and walnut orchards.

The Board of Supervisors could also have done the math: four or five local well-drilling outfits, 300-plus deep well permits, fourth year of a drought, groundwater pumping by water districts, hundreds of shallow domestic wells. It all adds up to what Kennedy said: Action could have happened, action should have happened, but, simply put, no action was taken.

Well, the board did create a 21-member Water Advisory Committee.

Concerning the “negative declaration” the county issued when Oakdale Irrigation District petitioned the Local Agency Formation Commission to annex the 7,200 acres of Trinitas Farms into the district: O’Brien was chair of LAFCO when it approved the annexation. Had we had more time, we would have explained to our concerned neighbors that O’Brien, in effect, said that neither Trinitas nor OID needed to do an environmental impact study – like a housing development would have been required to provide. That’s because there would be no impacts on water, air, noise, traffic, socio-economics, etc. Really?

We were unable to find any record of questions asked by O’Brien. His response to our questions: “(The annexation) was a water issue.”

The testimony from those who attended our meeting said it was much more than that.

Prior to the meeting, we were advised to keep our meeting civil.

Why was Carol Whitside (who represents Trinitas), Keith Boggs (assistant executive officer of Stanislaus County) and The Bee (“Water to be hot topic at Knights Ferry meeting,” June 23, Our View) so concerned about controlling the meeting that they suggested the need for security? Our committee had no knowledge or concern about the meeting getting “out of control.” We expected a large crowd, but we did not expect that crowd that would get out of control.

We guess that they know how people are feeling about all of the issues. Besides, you want to talk about civility, what is “civil” about the things that are being done to our neighborhood, to our community?

There were 250 people at our meeting, according to The Bee. But who didn’t come?

As moderators, we invited some of the large landowners (Thompson, Aldrin, Beard, etc.) who are now converting their large properties into almond orchards. But none of them attended. Who else is flying under the radar, especially those so-called farmers who The Bee, in its June 25 editorial, rightfully referred to as “opportunists”?

Many believe that’s what this almond-planting explosion is all about, an opportunity to make big money at the expense of the community, the water, the air, etc. Even the city of Oakdale, which benefits from our collective sales tax revenues, didn’t show up. We had a question or two for the city, also.

Not one of us has argued with the “right to farm,” which is enshrined in a Stanislaus County ordinance. But we’ve always asked about our right to live in a community, to engage in a lifestyle that we’ve worked hard to achieve. What about the lives of our children? Does the “right to farm” trump all that? Does the “right to farm” say you can trample on decent people’s lives so the Chinese can buy almonds and you can profit?

This is not a “right-to-farm” issue. We are not anti-ag. We just don’t believe that planting trees at an unprecedented rate in the midst of the fourth year of a drought, and pumping our precious groundwater to keep them alive, is what most people consider farming.

We realize that one article can’t cover all that happened at the meeting and that one meeting cannot cover all the issues. There will be more meetings … and they’ll be civil.

Editor’s note: The Bee did not suggest in its editorial that additional security would be needed at the June 25 meeting.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Jamie Coston and Gail Altieri: We were civil in our meeting, despite assault on our lifestyle."