Congratulations to Santa Cruz County Land Trust on the Watsonville wetlands deal … 486 acres bought for you with public/eco funds to save Watsonville”s wetlands. One major problem, though, are your plans to continue growing berries and pumping ag wells on this land.
To best protect our wetlands and address our massive yearly water overdraft, the Pajaro Basin Management Plan BMP requires a different plan. This property is located in the most critical area where, according to the BMP since 1993, all ag well pumping must be ceased to stop further saltwater intrusion and no other water is available to continue responsible and sustainable production. None of our elected officials, UC academics, or any other environmental leaders/organizations from Gary Patton on down are aware of this.
The saltwater intrusion caused by continued pumping here has been for decades, and still is, catastrophic to our regional groundwater. In any event, land contiguous or proximate to our invaluable and dwindling wetlands should not be cultivated at all. It can only harm these hyper-sensitive and rare habitats. Renting and farming this land for funding to “restore wetlands” and this nonprofits” executives” and employees” salaries? is a curious contradiction and amounts to very poor vision and stewardship for this property and our community.
I have been trying to relate this general message to Terry Corwin and the Land Trust Board for well over the last two years, with no response from them. Yet I”m still hoping! I”ve unsuccessfully been trying to convey this same message from the BMP to you, my neighbors and my community for the last 15 years, one quarter of my life, as well.
This land growing berries yearly might cost us almost as much water as two of our new now and counting $100 million desal plants before O&M can produce in a year operating 24/7… and we are in a drought and still as of yet 10-year undeclared countywide water emergency.
Most importantly, the major part of our and Pajaro”s BMP regional water solution equation here requires no ag well pumping on these lands and an additional 7,000 acres minimally. I would strongly recommend that any nonprofit or state grant funding must be contingent on fallowing this land and complete and permanent cessation of all further ag well pumping to best conserve our water supply and wetlands. This can be a very significant start to our water solution.
After all, when our water supply and environment is finally completely played out by our local Berry/Water Ponzi Scheme that”s running here, we won”t be able to print up any more.
Douglas Deitch is the executive director of the Monterey Bay Conservancy.
