Water Goes, We Go

Joe and Kathy Spencer run a 100+-year-old ranch in southern San Benito County. A single oil company owns mineral rights beneath much of the ranch land in the area, so it can come on anyone’s property and drill whether the residents like it or not. Citadel Exploration, Inc. is planning to drill 15 test wells on its neighbor’s land, and Kathy and Joe are worried about the impacts this will have on their already scarce water supply. Fortunately, in July a judge ruled that the project violated California environmental law and might require too much water—but whether or not the ruling sticks could have a big impact on the Spencers’ lives. After all, with less than an inch of rain in the last year, just bathing and doing laundry is a luxury. It could be disastrous if oil companies drain their aquifers and make their property worthless. As Joe says, “You can’t raise cattle without water. You can’t live there without water.” San Benito County has a countywide measure that would ban fracking and other high-intensity petroleum operations on the ballot for November, and the Board of Supervisors neighboring Monterey County is considering a fracking moratorium ordinance sometime this fall. What happens in each of these counties will be a bellwether for similar measures pending across the region. To learn more, visit http://www.nrdc.org/communitydefense.