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Staff warns state-required water-element outreach will be hard to convene
Summary
Planning staff said state guidance requires the general plan to include a water element and to meet with every water provider in the county — irrigation companies, small districts and private systems — a requirement staff said will be difficult to schedule and coordinate.
Planning staff told commissioners the state expects a water element in the general plan and requires outreach to every water provider in the county, from irrigation companies to small private systems and subdivision-level systems. Staff said the county must attempt to contact and convene these providers for a discussion about water use and efficiency, a task staff characterized as logistically challenging.
"You actually need to schedule a meeting with every water company in the county,'" staff told the commission, listing irrigation companies and small providers by example and saying it will be "impossible to get everybody in a room at one time or even virtually at one time." Commissioners expressed concern about participation and practical enforcement; one commissioner urged inviting well drillers and other practitioners to the outreach.
Staff framed the outreach as part of state requirements tied to the general-plan update rather than as a new local regulatory power. Commissioners asked follow-up questions about how to reach small providers and what enforcement, if any, would follow from the outreach.
