Permit fees are outrageous

By Liz Bowen

Pioneer Press Guest Opinion

Fort Jones, CA

June 26, 2010

Nick Jenner has recently written to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (be sure to spell his name right, I had a devil of a time!) Fears for his boys' opportunities explaining the "grim" situation for anyone who uses water through a legal Water Right, which is a Property Right. In most instances, a Water Right is what gives property its value. Loss of water reduces the value of the property.

Ranchers and farmers, whom I know, want to comply with the law. The problem is that the law is now destructive to families and small family farms. New fees for permits to legally obtain water diverted for irrigation through a court-decreed Water Right are so outrageously high that landowners will not be able to afford to comply.

Sadly, the initial fees will only be the beginning as the California Department of Fish and Game will continue to demand fee payments into the far future. This is unsustainable for farmers and ranchers, who barely survive in the present scenario of production agriculture.

Please read Jenner's letter (Jenner's letter was published in the Friday, June 25, 2010 B edition of the Pioneer Press).

In it, he explains the letter that water diverters recently received from the Dept. of Fish and Game stating that a cost increase on a legal diversion of Water Rights can easily go up to $27,000!

This is simply unreasonable and unattainable.

You don't have to be a Water Right holder to write the governor and express your concern and outrage over this Fish and Game 1600 Permit fee issue. And each one of us, who enjoy our open space and wildlife created by agriculture, should write the governor and complain.

If agriculture production is destroyed in Scott Valley, most businesses will be affected. There will be a matriculation of our population elsewhere. Population in the local schools will continue to drop continuing to affect the school budgets.

This issue will affect all of us here is Siskiyou County, so please write the governor a short note.

The first official meeting of Protect Our Water in Scott Valley will be held Wed. June 30, 2010 at 7 p.m. This new grass roots group will meet at the Masonic Hall on Etna's Main Street. Protect Our Water, with the initials POW, is standing on the Constitution of the United States to protect property owners from impending intrusions by government agencies.

For more info, call me at 467-3515 or Craig Chenoweth at 467-4119 or Nick Jenner at 598-1448.

The Pioneer Press was founded Nov. 16, 1972 by Gary Mortenson and was adjudicated as a newspaper of general circulation (Former USPS 970-340) by court decree No. 26666 and was originally entered as a periodical paid at Post Office of Fort Jones, CA 96032 in June of 1973 under the Act of March 3, 1887. On June 9, 2010 the Pioneer Press published its last hard-copy printed weekly edition and began distributing its news daily in a digital format on June 25, 2010. Daniel Webster purchased the Pioneer Press on July 1, 1998 and currently the 100% owner of the publication. The Pioneer Press is the legal publication for the Town of Fort Jones, City of Etna, City of Dorris, and City of Tulelake and publishes all public notices for those cities. The Pioneer Press is the successor to the Klamath Courier, Butte Valley Star, Tri-County Courier, Lost River Star, The Dorris Weekly Advocate, The Dorris Times, The Dorris Booster, The Butte Valley News, and The Butte Valley Herald.

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