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Water Moratorium – A Look at Bolinas, CA

November 25, 2008 Amanda Rice 3 comments

Very recently, the Ecology Law Review posted a comment on the water moratorium that Bolinas imposed in 1971 and is still going strong after 37 years. The article lays out the history (legal and social) of the moratorium and offers a potential alternative to solving the water shortage and allowing people to build on their property. The author’s suggestion would only work for Bolinas if the moratorium is really about a water shortage and not about stopping growth.

It’s not a short read, but for anyone interested in the issue of a water shortage emergency and accompanying moratorium, there are some instructive and useful ideas in this paper.

Download and read it here.

Last 5 posts by Amanda Rice

CCSD, Similar Realities 93428, bolinas, Cambria, moratorium, water shortage

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Written by Doug Buckmaster about 2 years ago.

Congratulations, Amanda, on finding this intriguing report on an “emergency” moratorium. There are lessons here for Cambria and the segment of the community that does not want to finance a prohibitively costly desalination project for the benefit of those who would want to build out the community.
Written by Camron about 2 years ago.

The”lesson for Cambria” was in the election. No one wants to or can ” build out the community”, but we need water. Costly water is better than no water. Would you rather see the town suffer another draught than allow a few more homes to be built. God forbid someone who has paid taxes for 20 years on a lot ever be afforded the same courtesy to build that the current chosen few in Cambria were granted when their house was built. Did all the currently built homes in Cambria not necessitate a single tree being removed. I’m sure mine did.Maybe every home in Cambria should be torn down and we can reforest the entire area. Lets vote on that and see how green we really are. .Personally, I like living here. Why do some people believe the right to develop a lot ends after they have developed theirs. If someone’s view is threatened by a potential neighboring home, its a free market, they can try to purchase that lot. They are pretty cheap right now. I see the vocal minority of no growthers has already started filing lawsuits to slow the desal progress, and that will cost us ratepayers dearly. Put all those costs in the CCSD budget and see if people like those numbers. Help build a wise plant, dont turn us into Los Osos.
Written by Deryl Robinson about 2 years ago.

Thanks Camron.
Doug, there were about 500 people who voted for the one candidate who stood against the desalination project. Is that the segment of the community you refer to?
There are lessons for all sides in this debate to be found in the Bolinas case. Certainly for those of us who could be plaintiffs against Cambria there are obvious mistakes to avoid. Unfortunately for Doug and his 500, CCSD has already made mistakes that had Bolinas made they would have lost a long time ago.
Perhaps the most important lesson to all of us from this case is not to see it as a zero-sum game.

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