Anyone who has monitored the goings-on at the Borrego Water District (BWD) knows that the District has been trying for years to deploy strong arm, regulatory tactics against local farmers.
It has tried to levy a pump tax; it has tried to turn itself into a Community Facilities District with confiscatory assessment powers; it has expressed interest in becoming a Special Act District with similar powers; it has looked into enacting a water sustainability ordinance designed to limit farmers’ access to water; it has meddled in farmers’ permit applications to the county; and it has moved to consolidate its authority by merging with a local Community Services District (CSD).
At the last BWD meeting I attended, one director sounded almost gleeful about the possibility that the District might gain “latent” regulatory powers through the legal status of the CSD.
At the very least, the BWD has a clear eight or nine year track record of trying to gain strong arm enforcement powers over agriculture. The goal seems to be to coerce farmers to “voluntarily” give up their water rights, most recently through a dubious system of “water credits.” Voluntarily…right.
Fortunately, so far all of these schemes have failed, in part because the BWD has been unable to persuade fair-minded people that it should have the kinds of strong arm powers it seeks.
The kind of regulation the BWD has been pursuing will never work because it is designed to limit and control the local economy. William McDonough, one of the founders of the sustainability movement, has rightly pointed out that true sustainability must be based on growth and profitability.
Regulation represents a failure to find solutions. We need new ideas, market-based ideas. What are yours?
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