Water, water everywhere

Saying she was “bothered by people’s misunderstanding that the county doesn’t pay attention to water,” county Supervisor Jane Dolan said Tuesday (March 11) she would like to see further discussion of adding an optional “water element” to the county’s new general plan.

Although her fellow supervisors also believe the county is fully on top of the issue of water, what with a county Water Commission and participation in an integrated regional water plan, they seemed to agree with her.

Tim Snellings, the development services director, told the supervisors Tuesday (March 11) that a special meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee would be scheduled for May to discuss how other counties have handled such optional elements. A recent report from Principal Planner Dan Breedon shows that more than 40 cities and counties have such elements in their plans.

Snellings noted that the county would be starting Phase 4 of the plan update—the analysis of constraints on development—with a public meeting March 27 at Little Chico Creek Elementary School in Chico. “This is the tough, tough stuff,” he said.