THE LWVMP STATEMENT AT THE McPHERSON TOWN HALL MEETING
ON DISSOLUTION OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at this meeting. The League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula has always worked to promote the values and processes of representative government, including assuring opportunities for citizen participation, promoting open, accountable, representative and responsive government at all levels.

Since inception, the League has supported the Water District. We have two separate but related issues we'd like to address with respect to any legislation.

First: The four legislative functions of the water district should be maintained. It's unique mandate requires not only augmentation, but environmentally sensitive management through reclamation and conservation, including the Carmel River, our primary water resource.

Second: Facts and comments of various types of governing boards. In making these comments, the League understands that the political views held on any board can change over time.

• Transfer of the district's functions and powers to the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, in effect, transfers the control to the County Board of Supervisors, its governing board. The agency is an advisory board to the Board of Supervisors. Thus, water decisions within the MPWMD boundaries would be overseen by an advisory board not accountable to the people. In addition, four of the five people on the governing board to which the agency reports, are not accountable to the voters of the district. The Board of Supervisors' approval of the Robles de Rio Lodge water transfer only increases the League's concern of turning the management over to the county. This is not the way to respect the water and conservation views of the citizens of the Peninsula.
• Transfer of the district's functions and powers to a board structured as a Joint Powers Authority. Here, the water agency members would be directed to act by the political jurisdiction which they represent, rather than the people, pushing the people farther away in their connection to its decisions. All legislative decisions would need to be approved by each political jurisdiction, extending the period of time to get any project/ordinance approved. Depending upon how the structure was created, it may have unequal representation of the population because of the range in population sizes of the communities. Again, would this be the best way to respect the water and conservation views of the Peninsula citizens?
• A directly elected board, with the population of the district equally represented among its members, is accountable directly to the voters.. The voters, not the water board, turned down three water projects because of the community's reluctance to endorse any solution that would threaten unsustainable growth for our small peninsula. Currently, the district is, again, pursuing another alternative to be presented to the voters. Disruption of the board at this time, will only prolong the water crisis. The League believes that this alternative is a good structure for the board, given that the district has legislative powers and also gives the citizens direct responsibility for its direction through the ballot box.

Robin Tokmakian, League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula