Watson back on Upper San Luis Rey RCD board

Oggie Watson is back on the board of the Upper San Luis Rey Resource Conservation District.

A member of the board must either live within the district boundaries or have an employer within the district. Watson, who lives in Temecula, stepped off the board in April 2010 when he retired as the general manager of the Pauma Valley Community Services District although he agreed to remain with the resource conservation district as a non-voting associate director.

Watson now works for T-Y Nursery, and when Alfonso Ramos stepped down from the Upper San Luis Rey Resource Conservation District board in May, the other board members asked Watson to fill that vacant seat. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is responsible for filling vacancies on the Upper San Luis Rey RCD board, and on Oct. 4 the county supervisors voted 4-0 with Greg Cox in Washington to approve Watson's appointment.

"Oggie Watson has dedicated his time and energy to the Upper San Luis Rey Resource Conservation District for more than 28 years," said supervisor Bill Horn. "I am happy to have his continued commitment to our environment and natural resources."

Resource conservation districts, which are formed to control water runoff and prevent soil erosion, were originally created to focus on agricultural use of land but now involve themselves in watershed management, recreational area management, urban and agricultural irrigation and water use, water quality, forest land productivity, and public education for children and adults.

On April 27, 1935, the Soil Conservation Act, which was passed in response to the Dust Bowl of that era, created the Soil Conservation Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Farmers were skeptical about Federal involvement, so the program included the creation of local soil conservation districts with locally-elected boards. Those boards and districts had no regulatory power but worked in conjunction with the Soil Conservation Service. In order for those local districts to be created, states had to pass enabling legislation.

The Soil Conservation Service is now the Natural Resources Conservation Service and is still part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agencies involved have since taken on additional duties to help educate farmers and non-farm landowners. In the 1970s, California's soil conservation districts became resource conservation districts, although some states retain the soil conservation district designation.

San Diego County currently has three resource conservation districts. The Upper San Luis Rey RCD is the only one without an office or paid staff. The Mission Resource Conservation District has an office in Fallbrook and the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego office is in Lakeside.

Watson lived on a ranch in Louisiana for most of his childhood, but in 1955 when he was 15 his family moved to El Segundo. "It was nothing like what I'd come from," he said.

After he graduated from El Segundo High School, Watson was in the Air Force before returning to school at El Camino Community College. He obtained an associate's degree at El Camino College and transferred to Long Beach State, where he earned his bachelor's degree and also met his wife. Oggie and Candy Watson have been married 42 years and have an adult son and two adult daughters.

Oggie Watson worked for the City of El Segundo for six years, and he also generated income by purchasing older homes for sale, refurbishing them, and selling them. In 1976 he and his wife purchased 35 acres in what is now known as the Redhawk area of Temecula.

"We decided we wanted to go back to a rural setting," said Watson.

Watson obtained a position with the Valley Center Municipal Water District, and during that time he obtained an associate's degree in water technology from Palomar College. The City of Oceanside was in the process of building its Weese Water Treatment Plant, which is physically located in Bonsall, and Watson was recruited to become a treatment operator for Oceanside's water department.

Candy Watson worked for the United States Postal Service; she retired after being the postmaster of Bonsall's Post Office and in 1987 she was the postmaster at the Post Office in Pauma Valley. Oggie Watson was recruited to become the general manager of the Pauma Valley Community Services District and accepted that position in 1987.

Watson was the Pauma Valley CSD general manager for 23 years before retiring. Ramos took over as the CSD general manager, and Watson also recruited Ramos for the Upper San Luis Rey RCD board.

The Upper San Luis Rey RCD has associate member status which allowed Watson to continue to participate in board meetings although as a non-voting member. "It wouldn't have been normal not to," he said.

Watson was an associate member from April 2010 until he replaced Ramos as a full board member. His activity as an associate member included working on two easements, so when T-Y Nursery had issues regarding easements for pipelines and for emergency access, T-Y owner Terry Yasutake hired Watson to handle the easement matters. Watson also performs other water management activities for T-Y Nursery.

"It keeps me busy and keeps my mind active," said Watson.

His activity with T-Y Nursery also gave Watson eligibility to return to the RCD board when Ramos stepped down.

"They asked me to come on the board," Watson said. "I have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge here in Pauma Valley."

The San Luis Rey Watershed Council was created to bring business, environmental, and governmental entities together to work on plans for the watershed. Agencies in the Upper San Luis Rey area created the Upper San Luis Rey Watershed Authority.

Pauma Valley has three municipal water districts and the Mootamai, Pauma, and Yuima districts are all members of the authority as are the Upper San Luis Rey RCD, the Pauma Valley CSD, the Valley Center Municipal Water District, and the Vista Irrigation District (which owns Lake Henshaw). A representative from the five Indian tribes along the watershed is also on the eight-member Upper San Luis Rey Watershed Authority board. Jesse Hutchings is the Upper San Luis Rey RCD representative on the joint powers agency and Watson is the RCD's alternate member.

In 2014 the State of California adopted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The state's Department of Water Resources designated basins throughout California as high, medium, low, or very low priority. The SGMA requires local agencies to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for high-priority and medium-priority basins by June 2017 and to develop plans to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability by January 2022. The San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin was designated as a medium-priority basin and thus will require a GSA.

Watson considers the GSA requirement to be one of the resource conservation district's highest-priority tasks.

"It's going to ultimately mean some cuts in people's pumping until we get the basin back to a healthy state," said Watson. "It's going to get tough for the farmers. It's going to take a lot of thought to get through."

The Department of Water Resources defines the San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin as beginning at the confluence of the San Luis Rey River and Paradise Creek and ending at the Pacific Ocean. The Mootamai, Pauma, and Yuima districts held May 9 public hearings and adopted resolutions to become GSAs in the San Luis Rey basin. The Upper San Luis Rey RCD is a member of that GSA; Hutchings is the RCD's primary representative and Watson is the alternate.

The SGMA language requires a GSA to work with stakeholders as groundwater regulations are being developed. The stakeholders include well owners and other holders of groundwater rights, municipal well operators, public water systems, local land planning agencies, environmental users of groundwater, surface water users if a hydrologic connection between surface and groundwater bodies exists, the Federal government (including the military and managers of Federal lands), and Indian tribes.

"I try wherever I can to step up," said Watson of returning to the RCD board. "I just want to give back. I've had a great life. I've had a great job."