What We Protect!
Butte Environmental Council aims to keep Butte County residents aware of current environmental issues and provide opportunities for involvement. BEC monitors policies and plans within Butte County to ensure that environmental concerns are brought to life and addressed!
Current Issues in Butte County
1. Issues With Groundwater Management
When the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was passed in 2014, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) were charged with creating Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) that serve as a roadmap for achieving groundwater sustainability in 20 years. In Butte County, we have multiple GSAs relating to different subbasins and other areas. Chico is located in the Vina subbasin, and groundwater under Chico is therefore managed by the Vina GSA. The Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation is another organization that plays an important role in managing our groundwater resources. There are many public meetings relating to the management of our local groundwater. If you are interested in getting involved in this critical issue, there is often a chance to leave a public comment on the decisions being made in our county.
Learn about the latest issues in groundwater management through the videos below!
Map showing the surface and subsurface extent of Tuscan and Tehama aquifers. (Map courtesy of California Dept. of Conservation)
Check out the BEC community calendar to stay on top of groundwater meetings in Butte County! We also offer an open-source library of water resources, called Public Water Resources. This is an ongoing issue so BEC will be continuing to monitor and report our findings.
2. Chico Barber District Development Environmental Impact Report
Are you up to date on the latest development plans in the City of Chico?
The Barber Yard Specific Plan Description:
“The proposed project consists of the full buildout of the 133 acre Barber Yard Specific Plan Area resulting in a mixed-use community accommodating a diverse range of up to 1,250 housing units with a mix of commercial, recreational and office uses located throughout. The proposed project would include adaptive reuse of the three existing on-site buildings (Warehouse, Engineering Building, and Shop). Within the approximately 16-acre off-site improvement area, an approximately 3-5 acre combination water quality retention/detention basin (stormwater basin), access drive from Estes Road, and an associated storm drain alignment would be constructed to connect the BYSP Area and stormwater basin to a new outfall to Comanche Creek.”
Concerns were voiced by the community at the Environmental Impact Review Workshop on January 29th held by Green City Chico and at the Environmental Impact Report Public Hearing on January 30th.
Pictured is the old Diamond Match Factory building.
Diamond Match, Chico California / Copyright Mark Hedlund 2012-2019. All rights reserved. Use in school projects and with links on social media is always okay. Please send me an email to request permission for any other use: hedlunch@yahoo.com
The Diamond Match Factory was an operational Mill and Factory owned by the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation functioning through the 20th Century on the 292 acres adjacent to the railroad in what is now considered South Chico. During the construction and operations of the facilities, many substances were used that would come out later as being toxic, hazardous, carcinogenic and detrimental to both people and the environment.
BEC’s Current Advocacy Issues (listed above) are led by the Advocacy Committee. If you are a community member and have questions or concerns to bring to the Advocacy Committee, please submit the form below.
Advocacy Committee Meetings may be attended by current BEC Members, Board Members and Staff. If you would like to participate, please email staff@becnet.org.