Planning group calls out SDG&E on dewatering, claims “theft,” “lies”

VC Planning Group Update


The Valley Center Community Planning Group returned to in-person meetings Monday at VC Community Hall. All 15 members were present. Several had been added to the group since the COVID-19 restrictions. Back Row: (from left) Dori Rattray, Steve Hutchison, Renee Wolf, Julia Feliciano, Lisa Adams. Middle Row: Michelle Bothof, Lawrence Schmidt, James Radden, Vice Chairman Kevin Smith, Matt Matthews, Front Row: James Garretson, LaVonne Norwood, Kathleen McCabe, Chairman Dee Harmes.

The VC planning group at their July meeting called out San Diego Gas & Electric Co., on its recent dewatering of local wells near Cole Grade & Cool Valley roads. Members also came down flatly against the County’s proposed ordinance to enable existing marijuana dispensaries to enlarge and become centers for the recreational pot use. What one member characterized as “Marijuana Costcos.”

“Welcome back after a year and a half of virtual video meetings,” Valley Center Community Planning Group Chairman Delores Chavez-Harmes said to the 15 members who attended the in-person meeting Monday night at VC Community Hall.  Several had never attended in-person meetings in the hall since being appointed.

Rincon Tribal Chairman Bo Mazzetti speaking to the Valley Center Community Planning Group Monday night. This was the first time in more than a year that the group met in person at its traditional meeting place: downstairs at VC Community Hall.

Misconceptions about tribes

Members welcomed Rincon Band of Mission Indians Chairman Bo Mazzetti, who schooled them on things the tribe does that impacts the local community. “Tribes don’t do a good job of saying what they do for the community,” he said.

Mazzetti noted that the Community Hall was originally a public school and home to the 4-H Club when he was growing up on the reservation. 

He explained that tribes don’t draw from a tax base to draw for expenses like the County or a city. It relies on the federal government and revenues from gaming. “We provide all services to our members,” he said. “We don’t have one member on any kind of public assistance.”

“I don’t think any of us were aware of that,” commented Chavez-Harmes.

Their philosophy is to share what the tribe has with the surrounding community. He talked about the $4 million “state-of-the-art” fire department funded recently. Rincon also funds two extra deputy sheriffs for $600,000. While they operate on the reservation, they are available for calls elsewhere.

Rincon also recently funded its own ambulance service. “Everything Mercy Ambulance has said about the tribe is inaccurate,” he said. The “Intertribal Ambulance” will add two ambulances to also serve Valley Center, the La Jolla reservation and Palomar Mountain, he said. “We are not subsidized at all by the County,” he said. 

The public has many misconceptions on how tribes put land into trust, i.e. to make what was once taxable land into non-taxable tribal land. “Tribes are trying to get our land back,” he said. “We are buying back our traditional land,” he said, noting they can only buy from willing sellers. Almost always it must be contiguous to the existing reservation. “We’re trying to put our reservation back together again,” he said.

It used to take the federal government a dozen years to put land into trust, now that process is three to four years, he said.  “They put it into trust for the benefit of the tribe,” he said. “The federal government owns it—not the tribe.” The federal government pays local school districts “impact aid,” to mitigate the land being removed from the tax rolls. “So the school district isn’t really losing anything.” 

For many years, he said, the County had a blanket policy that opposed all applications to put land into trust. A few months ago the Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance rescinding that policy. “Now it’s looked at case by case,” said Mazzetti. 

Any application to put land into trust requires public input, he said. 

At the end of the chairman’s talk, planner James Garritson told him, “Keep up the good work!”

Mazzetti took some questions. Chavez-Harmes asked if the recent Horizon Fuel Center followed county signage guidelines. He pointed out that the fuel center is on the San Pasqual Reservation—not the Rincon reservation and added, “County ordinances generally don’t apply to Indian land.” He added that usually tribes follow the Dark Skies policies to protect Palomar Observatory.

He concluded by urging them to ask questions about local tribes if they won’t to know the truth. “We are members of the same community,” he said. “It can’t be us against you.”

Dewatering Controversy

SDG&E may have stopped drawing water from local aquifers but the resentment and demand for answers remains in the air like a toxic fog that might, in other circumstances, give rise to someone like Erin Brockovich. Then again, judging from comments Monday night, that may have already happened.

Larry Schmidt, the group’s point man on SDG&E, reported that the dewatering  stopped June 30: “Now we want to get that water back into the aquifer.” He noted that the utility did not have a dewatering permit. He requested the group to continue to pressure both the County and SDG&E. “We are not getting answers,” he said. “Everything is conflicted. There is no honesty in what they are telling us. Nothing they have provided us is accurate.” He added, “The oak trees don’t look very happy.”

Sixty to 70 wells are within two miles of where SDG&E pumped water for three weeks. “We want to hold SDG&E responsible,” he said. He said SDG&E is asking individual property owners to make separate damage claims. 

He said some estimate 8-10 million gallons were drawn, “and the real number is probably double that.” Note: 1 million gallons is 3.07 Acre Feet, which, at the current retail rate of $2,258.37/acre feet = $6,933.20 according to the Valley Center Municipal Water District.

Audience member Bill Seward, who is in construction, and said he has dealt with SDG&E previously declared, “The oak trees are dead. They will never come back!” He added, “They do not care.”

Cindy Wright, one of the earliest residents to call the alarm about the dewatering, said, “It’s infuriating to me! Tens of thousands of gallons of water per day.” She contacted the Regional Water Quality Control Board and determined it never gave the utility a dewatering permit. “It took three and a half weeks for the County to shut it down because the County assumed SDG&E would get a dewatering permit.”

She added, “SDG&E didn’t even know my well existed. They come on and illegally bored in our community and didn’t stop until they were forced to. SDG&E will not do anything until we force them to.” She added that if it is forced to make reimbursements it will probably raise the money from customers. “Not only did they come here a take our water, they will pass the cost onto us.”

She added, “The creek is totally dry. They have never helped us. They are going to wait and do nothing and force individuals to file claims.”

Wright asked planners to “support mitigation so they put back the significant amount of water they stole.”

Schmidt supported that. “You have to hold them accountable. Without litigation or the threat of litigation they will shrug it off.”

Another resident said her family, and other families probably can’t remain in Valley Center because of the loss. “This was supposed to be our home,” she said. “You are going to lose residents.”

Planning Chairman Delores Chavez-Harmes said the planning group would help the residents  where it can, keeping it mind that it is just advisory to the County.

“We have heard you from the very beginning,” she said. “Every comment we have received we have posted online. We heard you!” She has put out calls to those who might help residents form a class action lawsuit. “It’s a heinous act and we hear you!”

She praised Schmidt for keeping the community and the group informed. “You have done a wonderful job!” she said.

Vice Chairman Kevin Smith pointed out that as an advisory body the planning group can’t sue anyone.

Chavez-Harmes agreed: “About all the planning group can do is research on how you can go forward.”

Planner Dori Rattray added that there is already a GoFundMe page taking donations to retain an attorney.

Schmidt added, “They are running these trucks [water tankers] all over the place and no one knows where they went. I feel like it’s a lie after a lie.” He repeated that SDG&E’s excavation permit never included a dewatering permit. He said the next step is to appeal to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which oversees SDG&E. 

Cannabis Zoning Ordinance

Planning & Development Services staff members Aleena Benedito and Scott Cristman updated planners on the “Socially Equitable Cannabis Program” and the ordinance staff has undertaken at the direction of the board.  

January 27 they directed staff to develop a cannabis ordinance to allow the expansion of such dispensaries in the Backcountry.  The direction was for  “The Office of Equity and Racial Justice to lead the development of the framework and strategy, including grant funding options, needed to launch a comprehensive Social Equity Program and coordinate this with the land use permitting system being developed by the Department of Planning & Development Services.”

This process will take several years, probably until 2023, although the next report will be made to the board in October. Meantime staff is directed to remove the sword hanging by a thread over existing dispensaries, which, if the current ordinance is not changed, must shut down by April 2022. The ordinance would also allow existing five legal dispensaries to add up to 10,000 square feet without a major use permit. It will be presented to the Planning Commission August 6 and to the Board of Supervisors in October.

One of the five legal dispensaries is in Valley Center on Nelson Way near the I-15 freeway.

Chairman Chavez-Harmes rhetorically asked, “Why does the Board of Supervisors want to shove this through and not make the dispensaries follow the rules? If this goes through we are going to have people who are high driving down our roads—hitting my grandchildren. Is the County going to be ready for that?”

Dr. Matt Matthews, who has been the group’s point man on cannabis, said the “County is creating a monopoly in Costco-sized dispensaries.” He said he visited the VC dispensary and didn’t see many customers.

Planner Michelle Bothof asked why the County, “would allow these dispensaries to bypass existing rules when there isn’t that much demand?”

The group voted to oppose the proposed ordinance. The vote was 12-3, with Kevin Smith, James Garritson and Renee Wolf voting for the ordinance.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *