Liz Writes Life: POW: Do not sign 2011 permits

Scott Valley, Calif. — It finally happened. The 2011 Scott Valley Watershed-wide Permit is out. It is 150 pages long with at least 12 lines demanding your signature. Those who believe they must have this watershed-wide permit for protection need to take a cold, hard look at this excessive permit  before signing. It is a contract between you and the State Department of Fish and Game.

Legal counsel for Scott Valley Protect Our Water has looked it over and said “Do not sign.” But don’t take POW’s word for it. Take it to your attorney with this explicit direction: Will this contract reduce my right to my water?

After seven years of wrangling and word-smithing, this is the culmination of two permits now entangled. Initially, the permits were created to protect the landowner-water diverter. But that “good intention” has flip-flopped. I truly believe this permit is dangerous. I looked over the 2011 watershed-wide permit and it looks daunting. We are being hoodwinked!
 
POW will meet

Much more on the 2011 Watershed-wide Permit will be shared at the next Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting this Thursday, Jan. 27 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Attend so you will know what we know. And check out Pie N Politics.com.
Also on the agenda is new information about the Groundwater Management Scott Valley Advisory Committee and plan.

The Scott River Watershed Council found it difficult to find funding for the monthly water level monitoring program for Scott Valley wells. But Siskiyou County anted up, as did the Siskiyou RAC (committee from the U.S. Forest Service) during the past two years. That funding has dried up (no pun intended).
There are at least 40 individuals – from farmers and ranchers to residential owners – allowing this monitoring program on their wells. It was instigated, and I was on the watershed council at the time, as a means to monitor ourselves, providing ammunition against any state agency that may want to monitor and manage our groundwater.

There was protection in this locally-initiated program: All data and names would be confidential.

Dr. Thomas Harter, Ph.D., who led the program beginning in 2006, was able to house the data at U.C. Davis, where it is not available to third-party entities or lawsuits.

But that may change. Letters were sent out on Jan. 10 by the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District (RCD) to these well-monitoring participants stating that the State Water Resources Control Board has agreed to provide funding for the next two years. The caveat? The RCD is required to submit the entire data base to this funding agency, where its staff can play with the numbers, and greenies and Tribes can use the California Public Records Act to obtain the data.

This is unacceptable.

POW is also concerned about the hazardous fish video weir that the DFG placed in the Scott River to count the coho salmon as they returned to spawn. Dr. John Menke, Ph.D., held a tour last week and explained the difficult gauntlet to Yurok and Kurok Tribal leaders.

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It is still winter
Do not start your garden, even if we have 60 degree temps! Boy, this warm weather does get one interested in gardening. Typically, this warm spell arrives in February, but it seems to change every few years. My husband cleaned up more dead plants and leaves out of the garden and flower garden. I may even get out there this week.
Those of you with greenhouses may have a different schedule, but we still have at least four more months with freezing nights ahead of us.
I was bummed, because the potatoes have not held well in the old sawdust-insulated shed. Through my reading, studying and pondering, I now believe potatoes need an air vent in the storage area. They were dry enough when we boxed them and stacked them in storage, but they seem to get damp and begin rotting. I didn’t think they would stay well in the house, but found that the ones I recently brought in and are in regular house temperature, and not enclosed, are staying firm.
The red potatoes grew huge and there were a lot of them. And boy, they are sweet and tasty. I just love them fried. I will be planting more potatoes in April, so if anyone has suggestions on how to store potatoes, (cheaply) please give me a call at (530) 467-3515.
Finally opened the Burpee seed catalog. Cost of all seeds are going up, but I will probably try the “Raspberry Lemonade Mix” of zinnia with a variety of colors. I will baby them by planting them in the house in March. The company is celebrating 135 years and I have already put up Burpee’s list of accomplishments starting in 1876 on Liz Bowen.com. Pretty interesting.

– Liz Bowen helps individuals write autobiographies/biographies. Email her at lizbowen@sisqtel.net for details.