The city is claiming past practice and the right to dump this waste water into Pioneer's canals. The problem is this simple... once these canals received water from farms and adjacent fields. Now, there are thousands of homes on what was once farmland. The city mis-managed the storm water issue and is stretching the parameters of the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Mayor Nancolas and city officials failed to follow the example of other cities that have been in compliance with controlling polluted runoff from residential and commercial property for years and years. In their zeal to be more than accommodating they never bothered to concern themselves with the aspects of subdivision pollutants flowing into waterways used for irrigating food crops.
Now Mayor Nancolas is headed down the path of even more costs for litigation after spending $2million on all the current legal bills in this goofy battle with Pioneer Irrigation. They screwed up and now citizens of Caldwell are looking at another battle via the eminent domain scheme proposed by our Mayor.
Keeping pollutants out of storm drains is the topic of public service spots on TV all the time. Keeping pollutants out of irrigation waterways should be a no-brainer. The problem is how does the city of Caldwell fix the poor decisions made in the past. THE GUARDIAN does not see litigtion as the answer anymore than the pending threat of eminent domain takeover of PID's city of Caldwell irrigation water users.
Here's a link to the sequence of actions and reactions posted on the Pioneer Irrigation website http://pioneerirrigation.com/litigation.html
Here's another link in the IPT Sunday edition: http://www.idahopress.com/members/time-to-end-caldwell-water-fight/article_869afcae-f3c5-11e1-a855-0019bb2963f4.html#user-comment-area
What we seem to be talking about here is "gutter water", and the duly elected officials (Gutter Snakes) of Caldwell that can hardly wait to spend millions of dollars trying to managing it. As I recall as a youth kids liked to play in it after the rain or on irrigation day against their "mommies" will, which might give us some insight into the Nancolas interest this subject. Unresolved childhood dreams of little wooden boats pulled by strings. I'm not sure this is really very funny.
ReplyDeleteHey Ditch, you still got your boat.
DeleteNope: String broke, went down a storm drain and sank in the Boise River.
DeletePaul, thanks for posting your opinion on this. I think this is an issue that needs to be on forefront. Our city government taking about eminent domain to fix a problem. There is two issues of concern; government take over, what to stop government for other take overs. And not solving the issue of farming waters free from pollutant gathered in the street gutters. Dumping this water isn't the right thing to do. Oil residuals from vehicles and dumping it back into the canals, common sense says it not right. I don't have an easy feeling about the major of Caldwell way he is going about the fix. Paul can you keep us posted on this matter of importance.
ReplyDeleteAll cities use local waterways to disperse storm run off. Storm run off is perfectly safe for my garden. I would much rather water my grass with recycled street water than pure water from the city.
ReplyDeleteNo they don't and I suggest you take a look at other cities and see that homeowners are requried to keep their runoff on their property. You need to get out of Caldwell and see how the real world functions as stewards of their cities and the generations that follow.
DeleteObviously, the poor Mayor cannot read too well. If he could he would learn aside from the Pioneer Irrigation District has senior water rights. He would also learn that waterways, lakes and canals, etc falls under the jurisdiction of the county and not the city. All of this is in the Idaho Code.
ReplyDeleteBut since he cannot read he is awfully prone to do what Mayor Dale in Nampa is now trying to do.
Since the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also controls most of the irrigation water in Idaho, I wonder what they have to say about the Mayor's proposed mess.
I don't know about the rest of you. But, I am sick and tired of our public leaders assuming that we can,(or want to), afford the tab(s)they create, after their inability to solve problems. The clean water act, clean air act, and any more acts, that the federal goverment (EPA,DEQ,etc.)will shove down our throats; will cost all of us plenty of extra dollars down the road. We do-not need to be paying leagal fees and coart costs also. As many others, I own property that is both in the city of Caldwell and in the Pionner Irrigation District. I am paying a premium property tax as well as an inflated water tax and I cannot afford to pay anymore because of these childish brehavior(s). City leaders of Caldwell need to step out of the past and into the future, and start working together with Pioneer Irrigation on solving these issues. Two-Timer Tax Payer
ReplyDelete