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the new community garden on Humboldt Ave. (at El Monte) has a lot of open space.

Butte Environmental Council

People who show up at the garden have built enviable raised beds and a tarpless tee-pee for beans. A work day is planned for 8 am. (when its cool) until noon Saturday. BEC executive director Robyn DiFalco said they'll be planting ornamentals and generally moving dirt around. You can also show up and decide if you want to rent your own garden plot, which starts at $25 to pay for water and insurance.

the cost-to-benefit ratio of the proposed tunnels makes no sense.

AquAlliance

The Butte Environmental Council of Chico has joined other groups to call for more science-based "policy before plumbing," explained Carol Perkins, BEC water policy advocate. More water conservation should take place, and better policies to put "beneficial use for people, farmers, fish and aquatic habitat before the economic benefits of the 1 percent," Perkins said.

Letter writer Garry Cooper is right. Facts must guide when considering a moratorium on fracking in Butte County. Here are 12: 1. We are now blessed with deep, fresh, clean groundwater aquifers in our valley. 2. Our groundwater is invaluable as drinking water for people and animals and for irrigation water for our food. 3. Butte County has old wells drilled to collect gas, which lies below and separated by protective impervious layers from our groundwater. 4. Fracking wells would drill completely through our groundwater and its protective impervious layers. 5. Fracking injects, under extreme pressures, huge quantities of many highly toxic chemicals down the drill hole and its horizontal extensions, reaching miles out around the well. Fracking also creates vast quantities of toxic waste liquids.

Support the Citizens Action Network's proposed moratorium on fracking in Butte County. — Doug Fogel, Chico

The controversial cogeneration plant in south Oroville that burned biofuel to produce electricity for 30 years before shutting down last October may have some suitors looking to fire up operations again. The Pacific Oroville Power Inc. plant (POPI) is owned by New Jersey-based Covanta Energy and for years was under scrutiny by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office for possible environmental violations. The DA is currently in negotiations with Covanta on the payment for final cleanup of the plant and removal of contaminated ash that was deposited in Butte and Glenn counties. In the meantime, Covanta has maintained its operating permits to keep the plant financially attractive to potential buyers.

One inquiry Ramsey was not aware of is from a local group that contacted the Butte Environmental Council, which has been tracking dioxin levels in chicken eggs and other sources located near the plant.

Robyn DiFalco, executive director of BEC, said the organization had first heard about this proposal a couple of weeks ago.

With an alcohol ban on both the water and adjacent shores, thousands fewer people floated on a popular stretch of the Sacramento River and the resulting trash that accumulates for miles also dramatically declined.

"It was a night-and-day difference on the river, from tubes to full beers floating down to empty cans," said Lucas Merz, program manager for the Sacramento River Preservation Trust. "Just the overall respect for the river was really nice to see."

Maggi Barry, office coordinator with Butte Environmental Council, voiced appreciation to the Glenn and Butte county boards of supervisors for the ban. She said their proactive approach makes the river a better environment in several ways. "We would like to say 'Yay! Thank you for the double-duty of addressing young lives and helping clean up the environment,'" she said.

On a recent summer morning, Dave Garcia, the political chair of the Sierra Club’s Northern California Yahi chapter, occasionally interrupted a tour of gas wells in the Sutter Buttes to point out signs of wildlife: a scampering cottontail rabbit, a vigilant red-tailed hawk or whizzing western kingbirds. Garcia had brought a pair of journalists here to witness fracking in the Northern Sacramento Valley, something that most Northern Californians probably have no idea is underway in this area. The well sites appear almost deserted—there are no gas flares, no trucks moving huge tanks of water, no towering pump jacks. In fact, rarely were people even seen at these electronically monitored stations.

Property owners who lease land don’t always fare well with the oil giants, either. A Glenn County landowner contacted the Butte Environmental Council (BEC) earlier this year after an exchange with a company that drills for gas on her property. She was worried about fracking and had become reluctant to sign over mineral rights. The company told her it wasn’t fracking, but if she didn’t renew the contract, it could access gas on her land from a neighboring parcel, according to BEC.

Though FracFocus doesn’t show fracked wells in Butte County, Garcia says he’s identified 10 active gas wells in the county. Once natural-gas prices start climbing back up, the wells could be subject to fracking, he said. “These companies are going to be going to the old gas wells they have in Butte County and reworking them,” Garcia said. “That’s why it’s critical to get a moratorium.” California’s fracking story has really just begun.

a garden plot for veterans at the Humboldt Community Garden has become a place where she enjoys the best of both lives. "It's like our little piece of the world," she said. "I've come out here and just sat and known I can be a vet here."

Veterans Affairs counseling groups and substance abuse groups also hold meetings at the garden, which is a project of the Butte Environmental Council and the city of Chico. The prolific produce is carted over in bowls and boxes to the Veterans Affairs office to share with those who may not have means or access to enjoy it otherwise.

The veterans garden project has become one of Tony Nicosia's happiest places. When the Vietnam veteran had car trouble Monday, he took the bus to make sure he could be there. "I love it, getting down and getting dirty. I like fresh vegetables. I want to see those plants grow from a little sprout larger and larger," he said. "It makes my heart feel big."

OROVILLE >> No new oil or gas wells have been drilled in Butte County in more than two decades, and nobody has ever sought permission to conduct a "fracking" operation, but if anybody ever does ask it looks like the answer will be "no." Tuesday the Board of Supervisors voted to have county staff prepare an ordinance that bans fracking.

Documents prepared by county staff for Tuesday's meeting described fracking as "a common term for hydraulic fracturing that is a technique of well stimulation used to increase petroleum production,"

At request from the county's Water Commission, the supervisors were asked to adopt and ordinance that would require a conditional use permit before a fracking operation could take place within county jurisdiction. In introducing the proposal, Paul Gosselin, director of the county Department of Water and Resource Conservation, said the procedure "has raised controversy and concern about environmental impacts, water, and seismic activity."

If it takes a village to raise a child, for me it takes a community to grow vegetables.

This year, we made a friend. His name is Mark Stemen, head of the Butte Environmental Council, and he introduced us to the idea of community gardening. Knowing we have a program for at-risk youth called Wilderness Experience, Mark encouraged us to lease a plot at Humboldt Community Garden to teach the kids the benefits of gardening.

The first time I talked to Mark about the garden, he told me his philosophy: the most important word in Community Garden isn't garden. He is absolutely correct. So far, we have done nothing by ourselves. Every time we go to the garden, we meet new people who are happy to be there, gardening alongside us. We use the tools provided by the community, the compost and the water. We were given some of the plants, and someone even gave us a hose when they saw ours was too short. We've chatted up our plot-neighbors for recipe ideas and tips on when to harvest our vegetables.

The northern Sacramento Valley faces a serious threat. Gov. Jerry Brown continues to push his twin tunnels project, under the guise of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The plan proposes a pair of massive tunnels with design capacity sufficient to drain the Sacramento River in a dry year.

As Butte Environmental Council’s (BEC) water policy analyst representing North State communities, I reviewed and analyzed more than 40,000 pages of the plan’s description and environmental review documents. An increased, uncompromised water supply for south of Delta interests is the desire. Big Ag and Big Oil will get more water, you get the bill.

Proponents failed to disclose the true source of water (the Sacramento Valley), but water transfers are written all over this plan. In fact, 34 separate documents reference water transfers. Proponents failed to acknowledge the potential for environmental and social impacts to the areas of origin, but removing up to 1 million acre-feet of water surely would have significant impacts. And, proponents failed to disclose the amount of groundwater that will increase water flow through the tunnels.

The fourth annual veterans plant giveaway is planned 9 a.m. to noon Monday by the Veterans Garden Project at Butte Environmental Council’s Humboldt Community Garden, Humboldt and El Monte roads. Hundreds of plant starts have been grown in the Butte Creek Canyon greenhouse and will be given away free to any veteran and their families who stop by the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, lettuce and many more starts will be available for veterans to take home for gardening.

The plant giveaway is offered twice a year, on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., ChicoBag, Klean Kanteen and Butte Environmental Council will celebrate the 45th anniversary of Earth Day at the Sierra Nevada Big Room with a premier of a new film, “The Little Things” at 5 p.m. on April 22. Prior to the feature film, two short films will be shown: “The Big Pick” and “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables.”The Earth Day Movie Night is an Earth Day celebration intended to leave attendees inspired by environmental activists, all while supporting environmental organizations and sustainable businesses.

A $5 donation is encouraged and students get in free with valid student ID. All proceeds benefit members of the Environmental Coalition of Butte County. Raffle prizes will be provided.In order to encourage all attendees to travel to this event on their bicycle, there will be a free and secure bike valet located directly outside of the entrance to the Big Room, courtesy of Chico Velo.

One of the first items will be a public hearing for an appeal of the Bidwell Park and Playground's decision to approve the removal and replanting of 25 trees on Mission Ranch Boulevard and Holly Avenue. Butte Environmental Council is appealing the permit approval, which stemmed from a request by the Mission Santa Fe Community of Homeowners and its 47 encompassing households.

Butte Environmental Council is appealing on the basis that the project has undergone "inadequate environmental review because the cumulative effects on the urban forest have not been discussed."

A discussion about water issues, including statewide plans for groundwater sustainability, will be presented by the Butte Environmental Council tonight, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Chico Grange.The grange is located at 2775 Old Nord Ave. To get there, take East Avenue west toward the railroad tracks. Before crossing the tracks, take a right at Old Nord Avenue. Speakers include Debbie Davis, community and rural affairs adviser from Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Planning and Research. Marty Dunlap is local attorney and water issues mediator. Paul Gosselin in the executive director of the Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation.

In addition, the Butte Environmental Council is asking for permission for an oak planting project in upper park. The four-year plan calls for the planting of oaks, the engagement of community and protection for previously planned oak trees. BEC has acquired the funding to make the project possible.

If you've driven by Oak Way Park this summer or last spring, it's hard to miss something new. Neatly divided plots of land have sprung to life at the corner of Nord and West Eighth Avenues. The land is the second community garden organized through the Butte Environmental Council, http://www.becnet.org Some of the growers are people who were on the waiting list for BEC's community garden on Humboldt Avenue. Now that things have sprung up, BEC will host a potluck party at Oak Way Park Tuesday night, 5-7 p.m.

"Our agreement with the city is that we can do the community garden on the property until it is needed for something else," explained Robyn DiFalco, BEC executive director.

BEC has also partnered with Independent Living Services of Northern California. The plan is to build raised beds that will be accessible by people who have mobility limitation.

There's a plan for water transfers could move up to 511,000 acre-feet of water each year for the next 10 years from the Sacramento Valley to the San Joaquin Valley and the Bay Area.

The Bureau of Reclamation received a very clear message Tuesday night that people in the Sacramento Valley don't like that.

More than 100 people attended Tuesday's meeting in Chico.

Oroville >> People are wearing raincoats and watching water run down the gutter. However, the recent rains do not mean the end of California’s four-year drought.Butte County’s water resources scientist Christina Buck said the local rainfall is still only at about 89 percent of average for this time of year. That’s based on rain through last week and beginning Oct. 1, which is the start of the “water year.”

Carol Perkins, a water advocate for Butte Environmental Council, told the members of the Water Commission that she hopes when those groundwater jurisdictions are established, they will consider watersheds, rather than existing water use boundaries. Some examples of watersheds are Butte Creek, Big Chico Creek and the Feather River, she said. “This might give groundwater dependent farmers a more prominent voice in this process,” Perkins said.“As it stands right now, our only voice is the county for those areas.”