Merced County groundwater moratorium shot down

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Despite the recent rain, the drought is still a top concern for leaders in Merced County. On Tuesday, they considered a moratorium that would temporarily ban all new wells and groundwater exports.

The county has been working for nearly eight months on a groundwater ordinance, but some say it's taking too long. That's why one supervisor proposed this idea to take action faster.

Merced remains one of the only counties in the Central Valley without some form of groundwater regulation, and many people believe it's past due.

"Three years into a drought and you guys can't put your thumb down on the water flowing out of this county," a Merced resident said. "With all respect to you folks, you start to look like you're on a crazy train."

The Board of Supervisors started working on an ordinance to regulate the sale and transfer of groundwater earlier this year. It was sparked by two private landowners in the county who are in the process of selling $46 million worth of water to an irrigation district that primarily serves Stanislaus County. But last week, officials put the proposal on hold until next year to do more research.

"Something needs to be done; urgency needs to be put into this ordinance," said Supervisor Linn Davis.

Supervisors Linn Davis and Deidre Kelsey were pushing for a moratorium that would ban groundwater exports and new wells until an ordinance is passed.

"If you think about it, we're months and months and months out, probably a year out," said Supervisor Deidre Kelsey.

But the other supervisors disagreed, saying they're much closer to finishing the original ordinance, and a moratorium would be a waste of resources.

"We're very close, so I just think we're taking a step back and move forward on the one we've been working on for eight months, and we're almost done," said Supervisor John Pedrozo.

After a tense discussion, the supervisors voted 3-2 against the moratorium.

This was their last regularly scheduled meeting of the year, so they plan to take up the original ordinance again in 2015.