Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/559046
Councilman Gary Jones was not present at the meet- ing. Groundwater Also discussed at the council meeting was the Groundwater Substainabil- ity Agency. It was recom- mended the council pro- vide direction to city staff regarding city designation as a GSA. The city will have to de- cide whether to join the GSA of Tehama County or have its own agency sep- arate from the county to sustain groundwater in the area. Councilman Rob Schmid, requested a special meet- ing be schedule before a decision has to be made. Schmid, and other council members, wanted more in- formation on the topic. A date for this meeting has not been set. Council FROMPAGE1 "Letter of the law, they have never been allowed on the Tehama property, but for the last 12 years this rule was not, for whatever reason, enforced," Hughan said. "The 'change' is really just enforcement of the ex- isting law and regulation." Hughan said although the rule should have been enforced all along, the de- partment will now be mov- ing forward with enforce- ment of the rule. Carlson said he believes the reason for the new rule is to protect the environ- ment and wildlife habi- tats. Riding through wild- life can damage the ground and plants in the area. "We understand it's a surprise to the people that have been riding there for years but we need to protect the wildlife area, the habi- tat and the wildlife that live and transit through there," Hughan said. ATV FROM PAGE 1 Improving the atten- dance of the Tehama Dis- trict Fair, though, is Mul- liner's No. 1 goal while he is on the board for the next two years. Mulliner's first item as a new board member is to work on the finance com- mittee, which he has wel- comed and agreed to. Originally from Gridley, Mulliner remembers going to Butte County Fair. He said he lived right across the street and enjoyed go- ing to the fair every year. "I participated in that fair for 15 years," Mulli- ner said. "When I moved to Corning (in 1993) I started to go to the Tehama fair. About four years ago my family got back into par- ticipating in the livestock events." Mulliner's daughter, Avree Mulliner, 18, was Miss Tehama County last year and is soon to be a gradu- ate of Army National Guard boot camp in South Caro- lina. His son, Evan Mulli- ner, 23, is working in Chico as an apprentice at the In- ternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, for an electrical union position. Mulliner's other two daughters, Aysa and Adi- syn Mulliner, are in middle school and are actively in- volved in baseball and soc- cer. Mulliner's wife, Jennifer Mulliner, home schooled their children till 2004, when she went to nursing school part time. She is now a registered nurse at Enloe Medical Center and a hos- pice nurse at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital. Fair FROM PAGE 1 This represents is a sav- ings for the department in gaining an additional re- source, Barber said. "We don't have a wild- land engine and this gives us one to use going out," Barber said. "It would be about $400,000 to get one like this one." It costs more money to buy a structural engine, such as those the city has in its bay, than the wildland ones, Barber said. The new engine allows the department to not only respond to statewide emer- gencies, but have a resource to help in the community as well, Barber said. "We want to be a part of helping at the state level and this allows us to do that and to go into areas our engines are not suited for," Barber said. Engine FROM PAGE 1 JULIEZEEB—DAILYNEWS The new wildland engine sits in the bay at the Red Bluff Fire Department on Aug. 12, the day the department received the 2014model engine from the California Office of Emergency Services. "L et te r o f t he la w, t he y h av e ne ver b ee n all ow ed on th e T eh am a pr op er ty , b ut fo r t he l as t 1 2 ye ar s t hi s r ul e wa s n ot , f or wh at ev er r ea so n, en fo rc ed . T he 'c han ge ' i s re all y ju st e nf or ce me nt of t he e xi st in g la w a nd re gu la ti on ." —A nd re w H ug ha n, p ub li c in fo rm at io n o ffic er o f t he Ca li fo rn ia D ep ar tm en t o f F is h an d W il dl ife The Associated Press FRESNO A wildfire burn- ing for weeks on the west- ern slope of the Sierra Nevada jumped in size Wednesday in a recreation area outside Kings Canyon National Park where more than 2,500 campers, hik- ers, employees and resi- dents have been evacuated. Strong high pressure over the Hume Lake area in central California will keep warmer and drier conditions over the blaze Wednesday and could pose a challenge to firefighters, even as a cooling trend con- tinues in other parts of the state. Sparked by lightning July 31, the Fresno County blaze tore through tim- ber, brush and tall grass in the Sierra National For- est, growing to nearly 48 square miles. It grew by about 10 square miles since Tuesday. It is just 3 percent contained. About 100 miles to the southwest, crews dogged by persistent onshore winds protected 339 homes threatened by a wildfire near Santa Margarita, a ru- ral town north of San Luis Obispo in the Santa Lucia Mountain foothills. The biggest threat to res- idences was from spot fires that leaped over contain- ment lines, fire spokesman Bennet Milloy said. At nearly 4 square miles, the blaze burning in steep terrain was 15 percent con- tained. About 800 people re- main evacuated from the small town near U.S. 101 in San Luis Obispo County. There are 16 wildfires burning in California with more than 10,000 firefight- ers on the frontlines. While a new wildfire ignited Tues- day in Humboldt County, firefighters contained three other wildfires that had been burning. The Hum- boldt County fire, north- east of Shelter Cove, has burned about 50 acres and was 5 percent contained Wednesday. Firefighters were deal- ing with abnormally high temperatures for the sea- son, drought-stressed fu- els that haven't burned in 30 years, steep terrain and the danger of oak tree mor- tality, said Cal Fire spokes- man Bennet Milloy. "These oaks become so starved for moisture," he said. "We heard them fall- ing all night last night." More than 440 Califor- nia National Guard soldiers joined the firefighters this week, and thousands more were being trained, ac- cording to Cal Fire's Mike Mohler. Cal Fire spokesman Dan- iel Berlant said with tem- peratures returning to a more seasonable, normal level, firefighters are hop- ing to continue making progress on the wildfires burning statewide. In Southern California westerly winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph will surface across the Kern County Mountains, Antelope Valley, Banning Pass, and the eastern side of the Cleveland National Forest. Meanwhile, a fire burn- ing 100 miles north of San Francisco that has charred more than 39 square miles is 95 percent contained Wednesday. RECREATION AREA Sierra Nevada fire grows; spurs thousands to flee JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A firefighter holds a hose while watching a fire burning along Morgan Valley Road near Lower Lakey. By Julia Horowitz The Associated Press SACRAMENTO The board tasked with overseeing proj- ects funded by a California ballot measure to gener- ate clean-energy jobs says it will hold its first meeting in early September. Wednesday's announce- ment comes after The Asso- ciated Press reported Mon- day that the board over- seeing projects funded by Proposition 39 had never met and planned its first meeting in October or No- vember. Voters approved Prop 39 in 2012 to raise taxes on corporations and send bil- lions of dollars to schools for energy efficiency proj- ects. The state Energy Com- mission says the program is on track. School dis- tricts are applying for funding, but it's so far gen- erated barely one-tenth of the promised jobs, and the state has no comprehensive list of work done or energy saved. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon says it's too soon for oversight, as the program is just start- ing. PROJECTS Board to review green jobs measure soon By Scott Smith The Associated Press FRESNO Vast areas of California's Central Val- ley are sinking faster than in the past as massive amounts of groundwater are pumped during the his- toric drought, NASA said in new research released Wednesday. The research shows that in some places the ground is sinking nearly two inches each month, put- ting infrastructure on the surface at growing risk of damage. Sinking land has oc- curred for decades in Cal- ifornia because of exces- sive groundwater pumping during drought conditions, but the new data shows it is happening faster. Mark Cowin, head of the California Depart- ment of Water Resources, said the costly damage has occurred to major canals that deliver water up and down the state. In addi- tion, wells are being de- pleted, he said. "Because of increased pumping, groundwater levels are reaching record lows — up to 100 feet lower than previous records," Cowin said in a statement. The report said land near the city of Corcoran sank 13 inches in eight months and part of the California Aq- ueduct sank eight inches in four months last year. Long-term subsidence has already destroyed thou- sands of public and private groundwater well casings in the San Joaquin Valley. Over time, subsidence can permanently reduce the underground aquifer's wa- ter storage capacity. As part of an ongoing ef- fort to respond to the ef- fects of the drought, a task force is working with com- munities to develop short- term and long-term rec- ommendations to reduce the rate of sinking and ad- dress risks to infrastruc- ture. "Groundwater acts as a savings account to provide supplies during drought, but the NASA report shows the consequences of exces- sive withdrawals as we head into the fifth year of historic drought," Cowin said in his statement. " The Department of Water Resources is also launching a $10 million program to help coun- ties with stressed ground- water basins to develop or strengthen local ordi- nances and conservation plans. A record low mountain snowpack has increased pumping of groundwater by farmers and other water users. Scientists used sat- ellite images of the Earth taken over time to measure the sinking land. NA SA Re po rt : La nd s in ki ng f ro m pu mp in g of g ro un dw at er a cr os s Ca li fo rn ia The Associated Press SUSANVILLE Authori- ties are investigating the death of a Northern Cali- fornia inmate fatally shot by a guard who was quell- ing a riot involving dozens of inmates. Corrections officials say 23-year-old Jonathan Velarde was killed Sun- day at California Correc- tional Center in Susanville. They announced the death Wednesday. Pepper spray and at least four warning shots failed to stop about 45 inmates from fighting in a medium- security dining hall. Officials say Velarde was attacking another in- mate with a weapon when he was struck and killed by a fifth rifle bullet fired by a guard. He was serving a two- year, eight-month sen- tence from Los Angeles County for attempted sec- ond-degree robbery and possessing marijuana for sale. The prison 190 miles northeast of Sacramento houses about 4,800 in- mates, many of whom are trained to help fight wild- fires. FATALLY SHOT Inmate killed by guard quelling prison riot Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates and more. SHESNORESMORE THANIDO,BUTISTILL LOVEMYHUMAN. —BANDIT adopted11-26-09 Combining Quality and Low Cost is what we do. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A