Letter to the Sierra Sun Editor

The February 17 story titled “Martis Valley Groundwater Basin: A vital resource for the region,” incorrectly states that our local water purveyors are extracting groundwater in a sustainable manner. The more accurate statement should have been this: “We don’t know if we are pumping sustainably.”

One of the measures of groundwater sustainability used by the State of California is that pumping is not considered sustainable if it harms groundwater-dependent ecosystems – ponds, for example, and meadows, wetlands, creeks, rivers. These wet, ecologically rich places are important in our arid part of the Sierra, and we as a community value them highly. There is strong evidence, however, that summertime groundwater pumping can lead to a seasonal drop in the water table in some parts of the Martis Valley basin. Whether these drops affect the surface waters and habitat above them is not currently known, because no one is currently looking. Indeed, the Martis Valley Groundwater Management Plan, in place for more than a decade, wholly ignores the issue.

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Demand for water will continue to grow as our area builds out, and the likelihood of impacts to our streams, meadows, and still waters from the pumping of groundwater will surely grow, as well. It is time for the TDPUD, NCSD, PCWA, Town of Truckee, Nevada County, and Placer County to seriously consider the harm they may cause – which could well already be happening.

Richard Anderson
Ex Truckee Mayor
Ex Nevada County Supervisor

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Dear Editor:

I absolutely support the effort to manage the Black Bear population. It is long overdue. They are timid by nature but opportunistic like most animals, and if we don’t institute aversive conditioning to instill respect the problem will only get worse.

Communities that have bears in the area also need to use bear-proof garbage cans and dumpsters as the Park Service has been doing for over 30 years.

Steve Barnes
Grass Valley