These ‘Wetlands’ Never Were

* Score another point for stupid government. In its quest to save the planet, the Moorpark City Council wants to spend $64,000 of the taxpayers’ money to “restore sensitive wetlands” in the Arroyo Simi “to their natural state.”

But as any old-timer in Moorpark knows, those so-called wetlands didn’t even exist before our sewage treatment plant was built, which now pours a steady stream of treated water into the arroyo. Before the facility was built, the Arroyo Simi was a dry wash.

In other words, every time you flush your toilet, you’re creating a “sensitive wetlands” which government has to spend your money to protect.

Perhaps if we all flushed our toilets more often, our sewers could be funded under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

But there’s more. As part of the grant agreement, the city will be required to maintain the arroyo in its “natural” state in perpetuity. In other words, every time the arroyo floods, the taxpayer gets soaked.

City Hall is now negotiating to shift the perpetual maintenance burden to either Caltrans or the flood-control district. While that might relieve the City Council of future political liability, it will not relieve the taxpayers of any financial responsibility.

Not surprisingly, the same politicians who come up with these idiotic projects now want to raise our taxes in the form of various new assessment district fees.

Howard Jarvis must be rolling in his grave.

RON GOLDEN

Moorpark