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The Environmental Water Caucus, a group of more than 20 environmental organizations, has filed a lengthy list of objections to Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr.’s plan to drain fresh water out of the Sacramento River before it could flow into the California Delta.

The Environmental Water Caucus includes the following organizations: AquAlliance; Butte Environmental Council; California Coastkeeper Alliance; California Save Our Streams Council; California Sportfishing Protection Alliance; California Striped Bass Association; California Water Impact Network (C-WIN); California Water Research Associates; Center for Biological Diversity; Citizens Water Watch; Clean Water Action; Desal Response Group; Earth Law Center; Environmental Justice Coalition for Water; Environmental Protection Information Center; Environmental Working Group; Food & Water Watch; Foothill Conservancy; Friends of the River; Karuk Tribe; Klamath Riverkeeper; North Coast Stream Flow Coalition; Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers; Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations; Planning and Conservation League; Restore the Delta; Sacramento River Preservation Trust; San Mateo County Democracy for America; Save the American River Association; Save the Bay Association; Sierra Club, California; Sierra Nevada Alliance; Southern California Watershed Alliance; the Bay Institute, and, Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

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

Also Tuesday, the City Council will hold a public hearing on the Draft Housing Element Update and consider authorization to submit it to the state for review and comment. The housing element is one of seven required elements in a general plan, and must be updated every five to eight years.

The element has six basic components: a housing needs assessment, a site inventory, a constraints analysis, housing programs, quantified objectives and public participation. The proposed actions are designed to meet various housing needs, including affordability for low-income residents, production of affordable housing for all income groups, and improvement and investment in existing residential neighborhoods.

Also Tuesday, the council will consider a resolution approving a one-year license to the Butte Environmental Council to operate a temporary community garden at West Eighth Avenue and Highway 32. The vacant, one-acre city-owned site is eventually planned for development as a fire station, but an interim use of a garden with no permanent structures would not interfere with that plan, according to city staff.

Opponents of a Wal-Mart “supercenter” store planned for Oroville have scored a partial victory with the California 3rd District Court of Appeal in their legal battle. The project is a relocated and expanded Wal-Mart Supercenter to replace an existing Wal-Mart of traditional dimension and retail offerings. In their legal action, Friends of Oroville and two individuals are challenging Oroville’s approval of an environmental impact report.

The appellate court agrees with two issues: whether the environmental impact report approved by the city inadequately analyzed the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and whether the new store might put too much traffic on Oroville Dam Boulevard, where the nearly 200,000-square-foot building, supermarket and garden center with its 24-hour retail and grocery services is to be located. “We reverse the judgment to the extent it denied plaintiffs’ petition for writ of mandate — and we remand this matter to the trial court to grant the petition,” the appellate panel says.

CHICO — The next round of the Code Blue water series, hosted by the Butte Environmental Council, begins tonight with a one-hour "action" meeting about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The Code Blue series kicked off in February, and six events remain after its summer break. Several additional events are planned through November, including a rain barrel workshop and delta tour.

Better alternatives exist, DiFalco said, than the concept to use tunnels to transfer water from the Sacramento River to the Southern Central Valley. "Let's not let Gov. Brown's tunnels be the only things being considered," she said.

The Oct. 17 discussion will feature fracking, which is fracturing of rock to extract gas and oil. "We are gathering details about fracking in Butte County, and citizens are getting ready for a (statewide ballot provision) for 2014," DiFalco said. Sutter and Glenn counties have the largest amount of fracking activity in the area, primarily natural gas, she said.

OROVILLE — A group of citizens don't like fracking and they don't want fracking in Butte County. Their goal is to have Butte County voters decide whether the practice will be allowed. Members of Citizens Action Network made their point Wednesday at a meeting of the Water Commission. They took turns at the podium to ask commissioners to put fracking on a future agenda.

Carol Perkins of the Butte Environmental Council said there are 260 natural gas wells that have "been pumped dry and are now plugged." "As natural gas prices increase, could these wells be reinvigorated without proper environmental review?" Perkins asked. "Little is known and there isn't much oversight," she said.

BEC board boss says thanks! On the heels of the Butte Environmental Council’s recent gala fundraiser and awards ceremony honoring local environmentalists Wes Dempsey, Dave Garcia, and Susan and Stephen Tchudi (see “BEC bestows honors,” Earthwatch, Oct. 24), BEC board chairman Mark Stemen wanted to extend his appreciation to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office for helping close down the dioxin-spewing Pacific Oroville Power Inc. (POPI) co-generation plant in south Oroville, and also to thank CN&R News Editor Tom Gascoyne for his coverage related to that controversial plant.

Don’t forget Anti-GMO activist Pamm Larry wanted me to remind folks of the Uniting Generations for Action community-building event on Nov. 2 at Trinity United Methodist Church (285 E. Fifth St.), from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (See “Let us unite,” Guest comment, Oct. 24). “This will be an unforgettable event and a prime opportunity to pair new activists with longstanding organizations and individuals,” said Larry in an email. Go to www.facebook.com/events/397543767021567 for a schedule of events.

DiFalco weighs in In last week’s column, I devoted a considerable amount of space to the plight of the huge historic valley oak tree

growing in the vacant lot at the corner of Salem and West Eighth streets. Thanks to the recent actions of the city’s Architectural Review & Historic Preservation Board, the grand, towering tree is slated to be axed to make way for a couple of duplexes. However, the Butte Environmental Council has (thankfully) filed an appeal, scheduled to be heard next month. Robyn DiFalco, BEC’s executive director (who penned the appeal), sent me a few words by email recently, expressing her thoughts about the situation of this valley oak, as well as that of other heritage trees still standing in Chico. “The mature street trees of Chico are one of the things I love most about this city—and I’m concerned that they’re vulnerable these days,” DiFalco said. “At present, the city has no urban forester or tree crew on staff, the Tree Committee isn’t meeting for lack of city staff, and consequently, the Urban Forest Management Plan is still just a draft. “This is not just about one small project and a few trees—it’s partly a concern about the future of Chico’s urban forest.”

It towers to the treetops, collapsing onto itself to create grassy caves. Dense and aggressive, it chokes out vegetation and clogs the waterways. Arundo donax has plagued parts of Chico for years but its established concentration in Little Chico Creek has reached a crisis point, critics say. Now, the city is partnering with the state Department of Water Resources and the geography department at Chico State University to do something about it, although tackling the invasive weed to the point of eradication will take years.

The reasoning for its eradication is both environmental and also because of its immense fire danger. Walking through a stretch of Little Chico Creek this week, Chico State professor Mark Stemen ducked under the thick canopy and used caution as he walked on slick carpets of the snapped-off reed.

He noted where homeless people have made sleeping spaces under Arundo canopies. Fire pits stand out charred and black in the middle of the caves.

Oroville >> The Butte County Board of Supervisors has postponed action on possibly rezoning residential property in Chico’s Bell-Muir neighborhood.The board was considering whether to keep the 33 parcels north of Bell Road and west of Muir Avenue at very low density residential with a 2½-acre minimum lots or revert it back to 5-acre rural residential. The properties lie on the agricultural side of the green line, the 33-year-old boundary between urban development and farm use in the Chico area. The neighborhood may be viewed as a buffer because it is between ag land and residential properties with a 1-acre minimum size.

Robyn DiFalco of the Butte Environmental Council said very low density residential zoning is a development zoning. “It’s a direct contradiction of the principles of the green line,” DiFalco said. She raised concerns about water quality in the area and indicated smaller lots increases the probability of the land being annexed into Chico.

It's a perfect way to celebrate National Bike Month ... the 7th Annual Chico Bicycle Music Festival. It takes place Saturday, June 13th, 2015. The Free, non-profit event was created by Founder Samantha Zangrilli to promote human-scale transportation and local musical talent.

Food and drinks, including beer, will be for sale along with a free hydration station by Klean Kanteen, a face painting booth and vendors with jewelry and clothing. For more information visit www.chicobicyclemusicfestival.com.

Oroville >> Marking the one-year anniversary of the removal of trees from in front of Oroville Cemetery, community members lamented the loss of the elder trees but celebrated coming together.Pastor Kevin Thompson told the group of 65 people that had gathered on the Feather River Boulevard sidewalk that the trees didn’t have to come down.“When you look at the before and after photos, our hearts truly break at what took place,” Thompson said.The last of 13 elder sycamore and elm trees were removed on Feb. 5, 2015, ending more than two months of protests against the removal led by the community group Save Oroville Trees. Efforts included protests, occupying the site and seeking relief from court, but PG&E ultimately prevailed.

Robyn DiFalco, the outgoing executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, said she was proud that Oroville residents mobilized in the face of the tree removal. She said their actions led to few trees being removed in Chico and along the Midway north of Durham and PG&E agreed to help pay to maintain replacement trees.

When it comes to meeting the goals of the city’s Climate Action Plan, Stemen said, “Chico was on target to meet its previous goals, and then came the Camp Fire.”

There is general agreement, however, that around-the-clock restrooms are needed. Gustafson’s agenda report recommends that the city “identify funding for two portable restroom systems” and continue discussions with the Butte County Association of Governments for future grants to obtain a Portland Loo, a more sophisticated outdoor restroom. Again, about a dozen people spoke to this matter. Nearly all agreed with the recommendations, but several felt they were overly focused on downtown when there was a similar need in other places. And two portables simply aren’t enough, they said. One of them was Angel Gomez, of the Butte Environmental Council. More portables are needed, she said, “especially along waterways near homeless camps,” where human feces is getting into the creeks and posing a serious public health threat.