The State Department of Water Resources (DWR) is scheduled to address the Arroyo Grande Creek issue starting in July. I have requested that the County stop the relinquishment process to the DWR.
The county and the community need time to develop alternative solutions for the management of the Arroyo Grande Creek Flood Control Zones 1 and 1A.
I attended the town hall meeting held in Oceano approximately three weeks ago. It was obvious to most of the 200 or so attendees that the state doesn’t want this project. However, if the county does go through with the relinquishment, the state has put an outrageous price tag on taking over control. The average homeowner, many on fixed incomes, would be assessed $500 and upward per year; some commercial businesses would be assessed up to $50,000 per year, putting some out of business.
Why is the community suddenly held accountable for a responsibility that the county agreed to perform starting over 40 years ago? Those running the county need to step up to the plate and make up for the lack of maintenance over the years. We don’t need to hear excuses, or budget this, or environmental that. It’s clear to most that those running the county, now and in the past, have been negligent. After the county makes up for its inactions, we then all need to work together in arriving at an equitable ongoing solution.
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Joe Schacherer
Oceano
This article appears in May 19-26, 2005.