Federal geothermal royalty payments were recently restored to county governments throughout the western United States as a result of legislation passed by Congress. I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation to Congressman Mike Thompson and his staff for their extraordinary efforts over the past several months to restore this important source of funding for Lake County.

While those of us directly involved with this issue are aware of Congressman Thompson’s personal efforts on our behalf, the general public is probably not aware of the extent to which he championed this cause.

Without Congressman’s Thompson’s intervention it is likely the royalty payments would not have been restored. He worked tirelessly to convince the leadership in Congress and the U.S. Senate to support returning these revenues to local government.

He met with key officials in the Obama Administration, including the Secretary of Interior, to explain the particular importance of this issue to Lake County. He kept in close contact with the Board of Supervisors and county administration throughout the lengthy legislative process and never gave up, even when others thought there was little or no chance of success.

Geothermal royalties are a very important revenue source for Lake County. These funds are used for programs and projects needed to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of geothermal development in the communities of Anderson Springs, Middletown and Cobb. They are also used for purposes that benefit residents of all areas of Lake County.

In the current fiscal year geothermal royalties are being used to assist in financing improvements to the Anderson Springs community water system, engineering for a community sewer system, the construction of a new library and senior center in Middletown, new street lights in Middletown, countywide storm water management, financial support of the county planning division, county park maintenance and park development, matching funds for the local resource conservation districts, staff support for monitoring and coordinating future geothermal development, and other projects that are very important to Lake County residents.

Recently, geothermal royalties were used to purchase a major portion of Mt. Konocti, in order to provide public access to the top of the mountain and preserve the mountain for the enjoyment of future generations.

The Board of Supervisors has sent a letter to Congressman Thompson expressing our appreciation for the restoration of this funding. We sincerely appreciate his hard work and tremendous success on this very important issue.

Anthony W. Farrington is chairman of the Lake County Board of Supervisors.