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MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT BOARD

From the Monterey County Herald
Serving Monterey County and the Salinas Valley

Sunday, April 14, 2002

When water didn't trickle down

WATER TRANSFERS ALLOWED A SELECT FEW TO BENEFIT FROM A COMMUNITY ASSET

By ZAN HENSON KRIS LINDSTROM and MOLLY ERICKSON
Monterey Peninsula Water Management Board members

Elected officials must be willing to take strong stands on important issues. As elected members of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management Board, we acted to ban water transfers. We stopped this unfair practice because transfers increase water use. They also give preferential treatment to special interests. Transfers allowed a few persons to make a profit from a community asset.

We believe in every resident's right to equal access to the limited amount of water that exists on the Peninsula. Because of state water rulings and restricted resources, water is limited in our community.

What is a "water transfer"? Under the old rule, when a commercial property "reduced" its water use, it could "transfer" that "unused water" to another commercial location or to a jurisdiction. The idea was that the existing business and the new user would use less water together than the one business used in the past.

Unfortunately, when we began to study it, we found out that generally:

- There is an overall increase in water use after the transfer.

- The district has not been able to control the amount of water used after the transfer takes place.

Water transfers enabled profiteering. The infamous Robles del Rio Lodge water sale was the most shocking example of profiteering from the public's water. Many transfers allowed owners who finessed the transfer to profit personally - from the public's water.

Transfers generally benefited certain commercial properties including expensive hotels, restaurants and offices. Additionally, the county and some cities enabled transferred water to go to the highest residential bidder. That is how Carmel Valley's Robles del Rio water transfers ended up in Pebble Beach mansions, and how "paper" water from a Pacific Grove laundry was sold to individuals.

We need to focus on the big picture. Transfers benefited only a handful of users. This community needs to focus on overall solutions to our water supply. The water district's resources are better spent in that effort, not in administering preferential, unfair programs.

We do not have water to spare. Our current diversions of the Carmel River are both illegal and environmentally destructive, as determined through extensive documentation by the State Water Resources Control Board. It would be unconscionable to continue allowing transfers until we obtain replacement sources - which we are doing, starting with the new injection wells in Seaside.

The majority of the public does not want water transfers. In the November 2001 election, the key issues were profiteering and how/why big developers got water when water was limited for everyone else. (Transfers enabled both.)

The cities and county decide which land uses get water - not the water board. The jurisdictions could allocate their water to affordable housing or remodels. However, most of them prefer to give water to commercial development. Those are their decisions. If the jurisdictions do not manage their own allocations adequately, the finger should not be pointed at the water board.

While we work toward creating feasible future water sources, we must all share equally in this limited, precious resource. There is no extra water. There is no water to waste. No one should be allowed to buy hiw way to the top of the list for water. That is simply unfair.

This water board has inherited problems which the board members are addressing. We are working on permanent solutions for sources of water and to legalize the current consumption.

We need to move forward fairly and with respect for our entire community - all of our residents, all of our businesses and all of our needs. We ask for your support as the new, proactive board tries to solve this many-years-old problem.

The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District can be reached at 658-5652. Its Web site is www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us.