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The Butte Environmental Council (BEC) is a non-profit environmental organization based in Butte County, California. Our mission is to protect and defend the land, air and water of Butte County and the surrounding region through action, advocacy and education. BEC was formed in 1975 and for over 40 years, BEC has had a significant voice in shaping the environment and policies of Butte County and beyond.
BEC in the News
Highlights and Sticky Notes:Scott Grist, who manages the event, believes in sustainability and uses this event to bring awareness to conscious thinking about environmental needs.
“We’re opening people up to the idea that we can use less fossil fuels and have a whole day live music festival powered by human effort,” Grist said.
The event is ran by volunteers giving in various ways including audience members signing up and powering the sound and instruments by pedaling stationary bicycles.Tags: no_tagby: ndcarter
Highlights and Sticky Notes:To her consternation, Strachan’s colleagues had declined to consider a resolution put forth by the Butte Environmental Council for the county to recognize BEC as a representative of groundwater interests. Supervisors previously passed a comparable resolution for an agricultural group.Natalie Carter, BEC’s executive director, echoed Strachan’s perspective on equal representation.
“Farmers say, ‘We represent domestic users—we have domestic wells,’ and they do, and they absolutely have a shared perspective in that,” Carter said. “They don’t want their domestic wells to go dry.
“That’s not to say we shouldn’t have a voice for someone who is only a domestic well user and doesn’t have ties to the agricultural interests in this community, which are so valuable, but shouldn’t be the only voice at the table.”
In seeking recognition from the county, BEC wants to become a—not the—
representative for users of groundwater from shallow depths. That’s the connection BEC sees between advocacy for groundwater-dependent ecosystems and homeowners who depend on wells—and why Carter says it’s important for the county to recognize multiple constituencies.
“[SGMA conveys] a 50-year horizon to sustainability,” she added. “The whole design is local control, and our local voices include a wide variety.”Tags: no_tagby: ndcarter
BEC News Interests
Highlights and Sticky Notes:SGMA requires each Groundwater Sustainability Agency to consider the interests of all groundwater users in the basin, and diligent stakeholders who make certain that their interests are considered are likely to find themselves in a much better place on January 31, 2020 than those who sit on the sidelines and wait for the dust to settle.Tags: no_tagby: ndcarter
Highlights and Sticky Notes:County staff is recommending a joint powers authority be set up, which would be governed by a five-member board. There would be a representative from each of the three agencies, plus one independent agricultural groundwater pumper and one domestic well user.The JPA will be charged with developing a plan by Jan. 30, 2022, that will assure the aquifer is not used to a degree that depletes it.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Supervisors Chambers in the county Administration Building, 25 County Center Drive in Oroville.Tags: no_tagby: ndcarter
Highlights and Sticky Notes:The meeting Thursday will focus on what’s called the Vina Subbasin, which covers the valley floor between Big Chico Creek and Deer Creek in Tehama County.Thursday’s meeting will provide a chance to meet representatives of those three and view a draft governance structure on how the three would work together.Tags: no_tagby: ndcarter
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