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Flowers placed on a stump of a tree removed by PG&E at the Oroville Cemetery as part of the utility’s Pathways Pipeline Project. As the tree-removal work continues in Butte County, efforts are be made to avoid or ease the controversy that happened in Oroville.

Chico >> No one wants another Oroville tree fiasco.Butte County, PG&E and other stakeholders are working together to try to prevent another controversy surrounding tree removals planned to take place around Chico as part of the Pathways Pipeline Project. Final tree removal numbers and locations have not been established but both the county and PG&E pledge that communication is a critical factor.

“We are very hopeful we can have a collaborative process and the public can be very informed,” said Paul Hahn, Butte County’s chief administrative officer. “There will be no quick decisions and trees are not going to just start disappearing.”

The rainy season is here, however, California is long from being clear of the drought. It would need to rain for 150 days before the state has recovered from the past several years of drought, said Debbie Davis, rural affairs adviser and drought liaison with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Planning and Research.Davis shared an update at a forum about groundwater last week in Chico, held by the Butte Environmental Council.

The groundwater plans for the future won’t do anything to help with the current drought, said Paul Gosselin, Butte County’s executive director of Water and Resource Conservation.

Groundwater has been the state’s water bank, which is appropriate in times of drought, she said. However, there are problems when there is not enough water put back into the ground.O

Stop shale oil trains along Feather River watershedLake Oroville provides water for 25,000,000 people and 750,000 acres of farmland in California.When a railroad tank car laden with toxic Bakken shale crude oil derails, ending up in the Feather River, all of the water in Lake Oroville will be poisoned.Bakken fracking oil is contaminated with hundreds of highly carcinogenic, toxic and poisonous chemicals that would instantly mix with the water in Lake Oroville, rendering all of the Lake Oroville water unfit for consumption by people or irrigating crops. The longer this contaminated water is in Lake Oroville the more of it will seep into and destroy our groundwater. If contaminated water in Lake Oroville reaches the Thermalito Afterbay it would seep into the shallow aquifer west of the afterbay. The afterbay actually leaks big time underground into the farmland west of the afterbay.

The oil industry will not allow this highly explosive Bakken oil in their pipelines because it would blow up their pipelines. That is why Bakken oil is being shipped by train. Also, the new reinforced Bakken oil railcars have already been involved in oil spills. The liability from this catastrophic event would bankrupt Union Pacific and force its operation into government receivership. There are alternatives to energy. There are no alternatives for water.Demand that toxic Bakken shale oil trains are not allowed along the Feather River watershed, because your economic future is actually over with the first Bakken shale oil spill into the Lake Oroville watershed.— John Scott, Butte Valley

Chico >> The city of Chico is rallying with Butte Environmental Council to eradicate an invasive weed clogging Little Chico Creek.

On Tuesday, the Chico City Council will be asked to approve a joint application for a $1 million Urban Streams Restoration grant to eradicate arundo donax in the creek.

The city will subcontract the restoration work to a local riparian restoration firm, and engage the California Native Plant Society for its expertise and volunteer labor. The Butte Environmental Council will coordinate community outreach and education, and Chico’s Stream Team will provide citizen water quality monitoring.

Chico >> Fifty years from now there should be more shade at the parking lot at Horseshoe Lake.Volunteers had their hands covered with mud Saturday while planting blue oak acorns.Normally this might be a job for squirrels. However, new seedlings have a tough time at Horseshoe Lake with people and dogs are running and walking over the area year-round.Saturday, a group organized by the Butte Environmental Council did all that they could to give the new acorns a great chance at survival.

Danielle Baxter, project coordinator for the Oak Restoration Project.

Saturday was the fourth planting day this year, with a total of 120 holes dug and filled.

Putting environmentalists and residential well-users on equal footing with farmers, the Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday (June 26) supporting the Butte Environmental Council’s involvement in groundwater management.

Other volunteer organizations like Friends of Comanche Creek, Friends of Bidwell Park, Chico Vello Trail Works, Butte Environmental Council, and other people who work with PALS will also be at the orientation to explain how people can get involved with their groups as well.

Butte County is working with other water leaders in the county toward the state-mandated Sustainable Groundwater Management planning effort, http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/sgm. This involves agencies that manage water creating plans that maintain water supply and water quality.

So far, several water agencies that provide surface water within the county have attended meetings, with a goal of identifying who will govern which areas of the groundwater basins. Mapping out jurisdictions needs to be finished by June of next year.

What will happen with private pumpers in Butte County is still up for discussion. At a recent GSA meeting, Carol Perkins from the Butte Environmental Council, told the Enterprise-Record that her groups hoped private pumpers would be given an active role.

The group started small in hopes of eventually making a large impact, initially choosing two areas of focus—Teichert Ponds, between Highway 32 and East 20th Street along Highway 99; and the area behind the CARD Center. The plan is to clear out invasive plants and replace them with native species. The group is working toward its goal with the backing of a city program called Adopt a Spot, which encourages community involvement in the park by providing resources such as tools, volunteer help and a management plan.

Water Warriors relies mostly on volunteers, donations and partnerships like the one with the city.

In its short existence, the group is already making strides. The work behind the CARD Center in particular is visible and already paying off.