Wells for what?

A plan supposedly designed to research the properties of the Lower Tuscan Aquifer is actually a scheme to move Northern California groundwater south, the Butte Environmental Council believes. Consequently, it has challenged the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District’s claim that a project to install several deep water wells is “research” and not subject to environmental review.

BEC’s lawsuit, filed Sept. 10, charges that GCID is using public money to expand its role in water marketing, with the ultimate goal of integrating northstate groundwater into the state water supply, and therefore must do an environmental-impact report. The GCID has signed on to the Sacramento Valley Integrated Water Management Plan, which posits that the best way to manage groundwater is first to understand it, which can be done only by extracting it and seeing how it replenishes itself.