Members of Water for Citizens of Weed CA ("WCWC") in May, 2017 prevailed in convincing the City Council to support their request of the local Shasta and Scott Valley Watermaster District and the State Water Resources Control Board to investigate the city's water rights. Roseburg immediately filed a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation against the both the City of Weed and nine local citizens. The Weed Nine, represented by an excellent legal team of James Wheaton and Paul Clifford of The First Amendment Project, won their first battle in court on December 7th, 2017. The SLAPP suit was dismissed and the citizens' first amendment rights to petition their government by inquiring about water rights was upheld in Siskiyou Superior Court, once again with Judge Karen Dixon presiding. Roseburg lost this legal battle to frighten away public inquiry, but states that it is considering next steps.
Media
The compelling nature of the struggle to secure our community’s water has attracted a significant amount of ongoing local, regional and even national news coverage. Also see major news stories linked at bottom of this webpage:
2017
“Watertown” In October, 2017 filmmaker Maya Craig held the first screenings of her documentary film about the Weed – Roseburg/Crystal Geyser water conflict. The film has been shown twice in Weed and is currently available through the filmmaker for select screenings. https://www.watertownfilm.com/
New York Times – California Today, December 15, 2017 Following the court dismissal of the lawsuit against the “Weed 9” on December 7th, we received national coverage through a follow-up article to the earlier coverage of this issue by the New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/us/california-today-a-timber-towns-water-fight.html
Siskiyou Daily News December 12, 2017 http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/20171212/judge-dismisses-10-defendants-in-roseburg-suit
Weed Press December 13, 2017 Our local newspapers also covered the court hearing and one of the “Weed 9” defendants had a Guest Opinion piece published:
(not online, need link to pdf)
(not online, need link to pdf)
Siskiyou Daily News August 18th In August, 2017, after WCWC and nine individuals (the “Weed 9) gained representation from The First Amendment Project, our attorneys filed a motion to strike Roseburg’s lawsuit, arguing that the lawsuit was an illegal attempt to silence the company’s critics:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/20170818/defendants-ask-court-to-strike--roseburg-water-suit
Sacramento Bee – On July 6, 2017 Jane Braxton Little published a commentary piece on the Weed water conflict in our state capitol’s main newspaper : http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article159375254.html
Siskiyou Daily News May 24, 2017 In May of 2017 Roseburg Forest Products launched a “SLAPP” suit, meant to intimidate its critics into silence, against WCWC, nine individual Weed citizens and the City of Weed. On behalf of the “Weed 9” one of the co-defendants published this Guest Opinion piece titled, “Not Going to Give Up.” http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/opinion/20170524/guest-column-not-going-to-give-up
Sierra Magazine April 1, 2017. The national online edition of the monthly journal of the Sierra Club published an article by Leonie Sherman: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/who-owns-water-weed-california
Siskiyou Daily News April 4, 2017: In March, 2017 WCWC approached our local watermaster district and asked the members to investigate the history and legal issues around the ownership and use of Beaughan Springs. On the same day, WCWC president Jim Taylor published a letter responding to Roseburg’s defensive and distorted statements during the watermaster hearing:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20170404/NEWS/170409886
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20170405/OPINION/170409805
Earth Island Journal In February, 2017 this national environmental newsmagazine published an article by journalist Leonie Sherman, reprinted from Adventure Sports Journal California, exploring the issues around Roseburg’s actions to deprive Weed of the water upon which it has always depended:
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/california_timber_right_to_water/
Weed Press February 1, 2017. On January 26, 2017 WCWC hosted a community meeting on the water issue at the College of the Siskiyous during which the ethical and legal reasons why the Beaughan Springs water should belong to the people of Weed were outlined.
http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20170201/NEWS/170209962
2016
KGO Radio Interview (link)?
Capitol Public Radio Interview (link?)
The New York Times – October 2, 2016. Right in the front section of the Sunday New York Times, San Francisco Bureau Chief Thomas Fuller published a detailed article on our water conflict based on a several days visit to the area and extensive research. Due to the high-profile nature of the NY Times, the article was widely reprinted in other newspapers around the country and brought unprecedented attention to our campaign. The impacts of this widely seen and influential article are still being felt. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/california-drought-weed-mount-shasta.html
Roseburg News Review September 24, 2016. After being contacted by WCWC, the local newspaper in Roseburg, Oregon, RFP’s operations center, published an article on the Weed-Roseburg water conflict: https://www.nrtoday.com/news/environment/weed-fights-for-water-rights-from-roseburg-forest-products/article_c1f8608a-e695-52ac-bc08-d771c6c4b1ee.html
Jefferson Public Radio and KRCR TV Redding Our regional public radio station and Redding and Medford news outlets covered the controversy over the approval of a Water Lease Agreement between the City of Weed and Roseburg Forest Products in March, 2016. This included a public protest against the agreement outside the Weed City Hall. This was the first significant media attention to this issue outside of Siskiyou County.
http://ijpr.org/post/weed-water-future-gets-muddied#stream/0
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/weed-roseburg-come-to-agreement-over-water/11443814
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/northstate/weed-city-council-considers-emergency-declaration-for-water_20160513213120750/11499277
Weed Press March-April, 2016: Our local newspaper covered the rapidly evolving story in a series of articles:
April 13, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160413/NEWS/160419885
March 12, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160310/NEWS/160319998
March 10, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160310/NEWS/160319998
March 2, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160302/NEWS/160309917
After months of negotiations between the City of Weed and Roseburg broke down in February, 2016, the Weed City Council moved towards declaring a “water emergency” due to the impending end of the 50-year lease agreement and Roseburg’s claim that it could then do whatever it wanted with the City’s main water source:
Siskiyou Daily News February 23, 2016 http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20160223/news/160229949
Weed Press February 22, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160222/NEWS/160229955
2014
Weed Press Nov. 20, 2014 In late 2014 conflict emerged into the open regarding the negotiations between Roseburg and the City of Weed regarding the future use of the water from Beaughan Springs.
http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20141120/NEWS/141119717
The compelling nature of the struggle to secure our community’s water has attracted a significant amount of ongoing local, regional and even national news coverage. Also see major news stories linked at bottom of this webpage:
2017
“Watertown” In October, 2017 filmmaker Maya Craig held the first screenings of her documentary film about the Weed – Roseburg/Crystal Geyser water conflict. The film has been shown twice in Weed and is currently available through the filmmaker for select screenings. https://www.watertownfilm.com/
New York Times – California Today, December 15, 2017 Following the court dismissal of the lawsuit against the “Weed 9” on December 7th, we received national coverage through a follow-up article to the earlier coverage of this issue by the New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/us/california-today-a-timber-towns-water-fight.html
Siskiyou Daily News December 12, 2017 http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/20171212/judge-dismisses-10-defendants-in-roseburg-suit
Weed Press December 13, 2017 Our local newspapers also covered the court hearing and one of the “Weed 9” defendants had a Guest Opinion piece published:
(not online, need link to pdf)
(not online, need link to pdf)
Siskiyou Daily News August 18th In August, 2017, after WCWC and nine individuals (the “Weed 9) gained representation from The First Amendment Project, our attorneys filed a motion to strike Roseburg’s lawsuit, arguing that the lawsuit was an illegal attempt to silence the company’s critics:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/20170818/defendants-ask-court-to-strike--roseburg-water-suit
Sacramento Bee – On July 6, 2017 Jane Braxton Little published a commentary piece on the Weed water conflict in our state capitol’s main newspaper : http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article159375254.html
Siskiyou Daily News May 24, 2017 In May of 2017 Roseburg Forest Products launched a “SLAPP” suit, meant to intimidate its critics into silence, against WCWC, nine individual Weed citizens and the City of Weed. On behalf of the “Weed 9” one of the co-defendants published this Guest Opinion piece titled, “Not Going to Give Up.” http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/opinion/20170524/guest-column-not-going-to-give-up
Sierra Magazine April 1, 2017. The national online edition of the monthly journal of the Sierra Club published an article by Leonie Sherman: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/who-owns-water-weed-california
Siskiyou Daily News April 4, 2017: In March, 2017 WCWC approached our local watermaster district and asked the members to investigate the history and legal issues around the ownership and use of Beaughan Springs. On the same day, WCWC president Jim Taylor published a letter responding to Roseburg’s defensive and distorted statements during the watermaster hearing:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20170404/NEWS/170409886
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20170405/OPINION/170409805
Earth Island Journal In February, 2017 this national environmental newsmagazine published an article by journalist Leonie Sherman, reprinted from Adventure Sports Journal California, exploring the issues around Roseburg’s actions to deprive Weed of the water upon which it has always depended:
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/california_timber_right_to_water/
Weed Press February 1, 2017. On January 26, 2017 WCWC hosted a community meeting on the water issue at the College of the Siskiyous during which the ethical and legal reasons why the Beaughan Springs water should belong to the people of Weed were outlined.
http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20170201/NEWS/170209962
2016
KGO Radio Interview (link)?
Capitol Public Radio Interview (link?)
The New York Times – October 2, 2016. Right in the front section of the Sunday New York Times, San Francisco Bureau Chief Thomas Fuller published a detailed article on our water conflict based on a several days visit to the area and extensive research. Due to the high-profile nature of the NY Times, the article was widely reprinted in other newspapers around the country and brought unprecedented attention to our campaign. The impacts of this widely seen and influential article are still being felt. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/california-drought-weed-mount-shasta.html
Roseburg News Review September 24, 2016. After being contacted by WCWC, the local newspaper in Roseburg, Oregon, RFP’s operations center, published an article on the Weed-Roseburg water conflict: https://www.nrtoday.com/news/environment/weed-fights-for-water-rights-from-roseburg-forest-products/article_c1f8608a-e695-52ac-bc08-d771c6c4b1ee.html
Jefferson Public Radio and KRCR TV Redding Our regional public radio station and Redding and Medford news outlets covered the controversy over the approval of a Water Lease Agreement between the City of Weed and Roseburg Forest Products in March, 2016. This included a public protest against the agreement outside the Weed City Hall. This was the first significant media attention to this issue outside of Siskiyou County.
http://ijpr.org/post/weed-water-future-gets-muddied#stream/0
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/weed-roseburg-come-to-agreement-over-water/11443814
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/northstate/weed-city-council-considers-emergency-declaration-for-water_20160513213120750/11499277
Weed Press March-April, 2016: Our local newspaper covered the rapidly evolving story in a series of articles:
April 13, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160413/NEWS/160419885
March 12, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160310/NEWS/160319998
March 10, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160310/NEWS/160319998
March 2, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160302/NEWS/160309917
After months of negotiations between the City of Weed and Roseburg broke down in February, 2016, the Weed City Council moved towards declaring a “water emergency” due to the impending end of the 50-year lease agreement and Roseburg’s claim that it could then do whatever it wanted with the City’s main water source:
Siskiyou Daily News February 23, 2016 http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20160223/news/160229949
Weed Press February 22, 2016 http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20160222/NEWS/160229955
2014
Weed Press Nov. 20, 2014 In late 2014 conflict emerged into the open regarding the negotiations between Roseburg and the City of Weed regarding the future use of the water from Beaughan Springs.
http://www.mtshastanews.com/article/20141120/NEWS/141119717
WEED CITY COUNCIL
NEWS
Weed Wages Water War
A small northern California town takes on Roseburg Forest Products
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20171228/news-features/weed-wages-water-war
----------------------
Nationwide news coverage in New York Times:
Timber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water
By THOMAS FULLER OCT. 1, 2016
http://nyti.ms/2d4k6o1
---------------
INTERVIEW
http://www.kgoradio.com/2016/10/03/pat-thurston-water-wars-in-weed-california/
WATER TOWN film:
A crew of Weed's former mayors is fighting back. They believe the water right belongs to the City, and with new-found evidence in hand, they’re raising money to bring the case to court. Their story and that of Weed citizens is found in this short documentary: https://www.watertownfilm.com/ ( Video by Maya Craig of https://mayacraig.com )
Weed Water Project
Concerned citizens for the ownership and protection of Weed's municipal water supply at Beaughn Springs.
Facebook site: www.facebook.com/weedwaterproject/
Concerned citizens for the ownership and protection of Weed's municipal water supply at Beaughn Springs.
Facebook site: www.facebook.com/weedwaterproject/