Water Exporter Draws Idyllwild’s Ire

The drought that parched the trees and streams of Idyllwild also is drying up the business of a local water exporter who was ordered by county officials to cease shipping well water to bottling companies.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors last month denied an application by Idyllwild resident Paul Black to permit his ongoing water export business, and shortly afterward filed a court complaint seeking to stop his operation.

Local activists, concerned that legal action against Black is not proceeding quickly enough, are staging protests outside his property on California 243 to block water trucks from picking up shipments from his storage tanks.

A protest last week nearly turned violent when Black allegedly swerved his car toward a protester in the presence of a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy. One of Black’s roommates had called the Sheriff’s Department complaining that the protesters were wielding weapons, said Sgt. Sean Bahash.

Deputy Ted Gonzales found no evidence of weapons among the protesters, but he watched as Black entered his car and allegedly steered it toward the demonstrator. Black was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, Bahash said.

The activists began the protests a week earlier, gathering with lawn chairs and picket signs in front of Black’s pickup site.

Their efforts mark the latest chapter in a debate over the best use of water in the drought-stricken mountain community.

“We’re here because we have a lot of dying trees, and we don’t like water going off our hill to be put in plastic bottles,” said Daniel Pietsch, a local merchant who organized the protest. “We think it should be in our streams and our ground.”

During one recent protest, the group barred a truck from receiving water by stationing cars in front of its access point. They vowed to stay the night, and to return at random times to disrupt Black’s water shipments.

That July 3 event marked the one-year anniversary of another protest during which activists left cars overnight to obstruct water pickups, and returned the next morning to find their vehicles vandalized.

Black declined to discuss his business, citing pending litigation, and his attorneys also would not comment.

Black, chief executive of Idyllwild Mountain Spring Waterworks, has been selling well water for bottling since the late 1990s. His business became a cause of community concern after residents noticed tanker trucks loading water at his Pine Cove property northeast of Idyllwild.

Water Shortage

They worried that the operation could worsen water shortages caused by a four-year drought, which forced strict limits on household water use and desiccated local forests. The Mountain Resources Conservancy, a local environmental group, retained legal counsel to fight the water sales, and residents staged protests against the business.

In November 2001, the county Code Enforcement Division issued a notice of violation informing Black that he did not have proper permits for his two 6,000-gallon water tanks.

Black responded by applying for a conditional-use permit for the tanks and a zoning change that would permit industrial uses, including water extraction, on his residential property.

Last April, however, code enforcement officials issued Black a notice that he was operating an illegal business. In May, Caltrans informed the county that Black required a permit to continue tanker pickups, and that he would need to build a safe turnaround and loading site for the water trucks, which currently use a highway turnout for pickups.

And in June, supervisors denied Black’s applications, finding that his operation removes 3.65 million gallons of water a year. That’s an amount equivalent to 11% of the local water district’s total use.

“The area is experiencing an unprecedented multiyear drought, and the applicant has failed to demonstrate that his water exportation will not exacerbate the effects of the drought,” the county report stated.

The tanker pickups at Black’s property also may pose a traffic hazard, the county found, and could disrupt the scenic features of the rural highway.

In May, the supervisors declined to consider a similar proposal for a water export operation above nearby Garner Valley, requiring that company, Mountain Springs Water, to conduct a full environmental review before they would consider its application.

Court Order Sought

Black, meanwhile, continued water sales despite the board’s objections, prompting the county to seek a court order against his operation. The county is calling for fines of $3,000 a day, and expects to file for a preliminary injunction against his business by the end of the month, said Deputy County Counsel Dale Gardner. The county expects to take the case to trial next year if Black does not cease his operation.

“Our position is that the business is illegal and the water tanks are illegal, and they don’t have any opportunity to come into compliance with the law because their applications have been denied,” Gardner said. “So at this point their only option is to close down.”