#6: SEWAGE
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Some homes in county islands are on septic tanks. They get their drinking water from wells. The former can wreak havoc with the quality of groundwater. The latter can wreak havoc with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Brand said it’s time to get these county islands hooked up to the city’s sewer and water systems.
Looking ahead, Brand said the first task of the April 6 talks is to identify priorities. From there, it’s a matter of commitment and perseverance.
Based on my distant observation over the years, past efforts at city-county cooperation died because everyone below the level of politician was busy with their own duties. Taking on the added chore of hammering out complicated agreements between sovereign powers is hard if the politicians at the top don’t sustain that initial momentum.
Sustainability in this context is defined as money and personnel.
“The worst thing I can do is create the expectations that in Year One all of these problems are going to be worked on,” Brand said. “That’s not realistic. But over four years or eight years I think it’s realistic that we can make a dent into every one of the issues I raised.
“I’m going to make this a priority in my Administration. I don’t want just talking. I want progress.”
Photos: The Fresno Bee; Downtown Fresno Blog; KVPR; Fresno Chamber of Commerce
