Agriculture remains opposed to new Paso Robles basin ordinance
Local agricultural groups continue to speak out against a new proposed county ordinance regulating water use from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, which will go before the SLO County Planning Commission on Oct. 28. The new ordinance, championed by a majority of the Board of Supervisors, would lift a basinwide moratorium on groundwater pumping by giving all property owners up to 25 acre-feet per year of exempted water use. The current exemption is 5 acre-feet per year. After months of negotiating with county officials and dissecting its environmental impact report, SLO County farming groups remain adamantly opposed to the ordinance, claiming that it will exacerbate the basin’s overdraft and add “cumbersome” new layers of regulation on agriculture.
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