Dale Basin Well Owners seek clarity on water source and county mining changes
There’s a lot these well owners don’t know about where their water comes from and how it may change in the future. At Sunday’s Dale Basin Well Owners Association meeting, they voted unanimously to reach out to professors at the University of Redlands and California State University of San Bernardino to help fix that. The board wants volunteer well owners to allow probes in their wells to measure groundwater levels, mineral content, and if there could be any other contaminants, such as forever chemicals. The program would also help create a more sophisticated map of the basin and where exactly the water is coming from.
The Association Board Vice President, Chancey Chambers, estimates there are more than 1,000 wells in the area, but there are only 21 active members of the association. The group is hoping more people will join to help expand the project to as many wells as possible. The more wells enrolled in the program, the better researchers at the university will be able to track even the smallest of changes to groundwater. Chambers wants those recordings to be public so everyone can keep track of the health of their wells.
Tracking water contaminants may become even more important if the Music Valley Mine project is approved because the vast majority of that project would be over the Dale Valley basin. But contaminants weren’t the board’s main concern. They spoke with members about a potential change to county ordinance which could make it easier for the mine to get approval. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is considering changes to Chapter 88.03 of the county ordinance which would allow any federally approved mine to bypass requirements for county or state permits. Members voted unanimously to write to third district Supervisor Dawn Rowe asking her to oppose the change. The group did not share its opinion on the mining project itself, but members do want the county to stay involved in any outside mining projects so that it’s also involved in monitoring the groundwater. Board Treasurer Maarten Oostendorp said he wants to prevent this change to maintain influence over future projects, saying, “We are also concerned about the change in the ordinance because it takes away from the ability of our members to know in advance, well in advance, and make objections about any of these types of projects.”
The group also addressed an amendment to county ordinance 84.01. Treasurer Oobendorp said Environmental Health Services reached out to several members to tell them this amendment no longer allows them to share water between neighboring land parcels as of January 1. However, the ordinance amendment itself says, “utilities shall not be constructed across property line(s) of two or more contiguous parcels.” According to state law, wells are not considered a public utility unless they are serving 15 or more connections or 25 or more residents for at least 60 days of the year. Members voted unanimously to ask the county for clarification on this conflict.
For more information on the DBWOA, you can visit their website at dalebasinwellowners.org.
