The Santa Clara Valley Water District collected 474 envelopes
for the protest of groundwater charges that began Feb. 26. The
official county begins today and will continue for about three days
or until all protests have been tallied.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District collected 474 envelopes for the protest of groundwater charges that began Feb. 26. The official county begins today and will continue for about three days or until all protests have been tallied.
Well owners were given the opportunity to protest the groundwater fees at the rate of $275 per acre foot of municipal and industrial use and $16.50 per acre foot of agricultural use. Multiple protests could be inside one envelope, yet it’s unlikely the needed 1,823 protests have been submitted. If a majority plus-one vote was successful, groundwater fees would be eliminated for the next year.
Water board clerk Michele King will begin tabulating the protest letters tomorrow morning at the water district headquarters. At the board meeting today, King went over the process that is divided into 11 steps. She said each letter will take about six to 10 minutes to verify.
The initial protest evaluation – step three of 11 – requires that these questions have been answered as required by the resolution that the board approved prior to mailing letters to well owners Feb. 26.
-Did it arrive between Feb. 26 and April 27?
-Does the envelope have an address of assessor’s parcel number?
-Did it arrive via mail or in person in a sealed envelope?
-Is protest signed with an original signature?
A Certified Public Accountant will validate the tallying by King and in an agreement between the water district and C.G. Uhlenberg LLP based in Redwood City, the CPA firm will charge $100 an hour over a three-day period.
Six categories will distinguish each well owners’ vote: Zone W2 (North County) valid, Zone W5 (South County) valid, invalid, rescind, research and legal evaluation.
A simple majority vote of 3,644 well owners in South County is needed for the monthly fee to be eliminated beginning in July. The water district said it will lose almost $14 million for South County if the protest is deemed successful – $6 million of which will come from a perchlorate surcharge over two years. That funding is regulated to replenish the groundwater basin, water recycling, water conservation and environmental projects.
Check back for updates throughout the day on the groundwater charge protest.
