Affirm Continuing Drought Emergency and Receive and File Monthly Drought Update. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Carey)

On July 27, 2021, the Board adopted Resolution No. 21-98 proclaiming the existence of a local drought emergency. Drought conditions have persisted since that time and the drought emergency continues. On October 19, 2021, Governor Newsom issued a proclamation extending the drought emergency statewide and further urging Californians to step up water conservation efforts as the western U.S. faces a potential third dry year. The Board received its most recent drought update presentation at the June 28, 2022 meeting. The Board will receive the next drought update from staff at the September 27, 2022, regularly scheduled Board meeting. This update will cover the following aspects of drought planning and response: 

Water Conservation, County Service Areas (Community Services Department)

In addition to the well permitting requirement, EO N-7-22 directed the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to consider adopting emergency regulations that included a requirement for urban water suppliers to implement water shortage response actions for a shortage level of up to twenty percent (Level 2) per their respective water shortage contingency plans.  On May 24, 2022, the SWRCB adopted emergency regulations (Resolution No. 2022-0018) requiring urban water suppliers to implement Level 2 of their water shortage contingency plans to increase water conservation and prohibited the use of potable water to irrigate non-functional turf at commercial, industrial, and institutional sites, but excluding watering to protect the health of trees and other perennial non-turf plantings to the extent necessary to address an immediate health and safety need.  The City of Davis implemented its water shortage contingency plan Level 2 water restrictions, which limit outdoor irrigation to three days per week. The County adopted a water conservation program on September 14, 2021 (Ordinance No. 1540), modeled after the City of Davis’s water shortage contingency plan for the County Service Areas that provide water service. On July 26, 2022, Level 2 drought restrictions were implemented in El Macero and  Willowbank CSAs.  The North Davis Meadows CSA voluntarily restricted irrigation watering to three days a week.  The County has already implemented drought Level 3 for the Wild Wings CSA due to its water supply conditions, which includes limiting outdoor irrigation to two days per week.  As of July 2022, Wild Wings CSA has conserved approximately 31% percent compared to July 2020 and in June saw water conservation at 36% compared to June 2020. 

Emergency Drought Response (Yolo County Office of Emergency Services)

Figure 1 - Dry Well Heat Map, August 23, 2022




Dry Well Reporting:

Well Type	# Wells	Notes
Household	24	Fifteen homes currently on the County-sponsored water delivery program with above ground tanks installed.  Eleven homes currently on the County-sponsored bottled water delivery program.  Three homes are pending dry well verification to be placed on the program. – Increased by 6 new reports since last month.
Small Business	1	Has been out of water for almost a year.  Business does not qualify for USDA water programs due to the fact that their animals are not “production” animals.  A new well has been drilled and the pump is being installed next month.
Cemetery	2	One cemetery has water to their building, but grounds have no access to water.  Another cemetery has no water but has setup porta-potties and bottled water for those working at the location.

 
 
Funding authorized by the Board of Supervisors in 2021 for Yolo OES response to drought was $50,000.  Funding provided by the State Dept of Water Resources for the above ground tank program (through a grant) is $559,500.  To date Yolo OES has spent just over $40,000 responding to residents needs for the Drought in Yolo County.
 
The week of May 23^rd Yolo County was notified that the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) denied access to the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) as part of the Governor’s Drought emergency proclamation.  At this time, CalOES does not feel that there are sufficient damages within Yolo County for the County’s eligibility.  Yolo County will continue to provide affected numbers to the State should that assessment change.
 
For the bottled water deliveries for the month of September OES staff are anticipating to deliver in excess of 180 cases.  Bottled water delivery will be changing to a pick-up based distribution system due to the increase in reports.  The month of August 2022 was the highest dry well reporting month that Yolo OES has experienced in this drought so far.

Groundwater Well Permit Processing (Yolo County Environmental Health)

Background
On March 28, 2022, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-7-22.  Of particular interest to Yolo County is a provision that requires additional review and analysis of applications for groundwater well permits in medium and high priority groundwater basins. The Yolo Subbasin (nearly contiguous with County boundaries) is considered a high priority basin (as defined by the California Department of Water Resources). This additional review is required for agricultural well permits only.
 
Agricultural Well Permitting Update
Yolo County Environmental Health (YCEH) is still working to develop procedures to review new agricultural well permits to determine compliance with section 9b of Executive Order N-7-22, which requires the County to make a determination that the proposed well is (1) not likely to interfere with the production and functioning of existing nearby wells, and (2) not likely to cause subsidence that would adversely impact or damage nearby infrastructure. Counties across the State are taking different approaches to comply with Section 9b of the EO depending on the status of their respective groundwater basins. Some are requiring a report from a California licensed Professional Geologist with a Certified Hydrogeologist (“Licensed Professional”) specialty certification.  YCEH is working with a hydrogeologist from Luhdorff & Scalmanini, Consulting Engineers (LSCE), to develop a method to make the determinations required by Section 9b and does not anticipate having to require such an expert report in all cases.  The County will be meeting with LSCE on September 1^st to review the preliminary results of their work. While this process is being developed, an alternative option for property owners is to submit a report by a Licensed Professional attesting that the proposed well meets the requirements under Section 9b.
 
For instances when a new agricultural well is being drilled to replace an existing failing well, YCEH has worked with the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency (YSGA) to develop an expedited review process that addresses all the of the requirements of the EO. 
 
Since the issuance of the EO, staff from Environmental Health, County Counsel's Office, Natural Resources, and Yolo OES along with staff from the YSGA have been analyzing the EO requirements and collaborating on implementation processes.  The YSGA adopted Resolution No. 22-01 to formalize the YSGA’s process of completing the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) consistency review for compliance with section 9a’s written verification requirements.
 
In addition, staff are monitoring proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 2201 (AB 2201), which may implement more permanent well permitting requirements similar to the EO. 

Well Permit Update:
July 2022 Summary Report

	Permit Applications Received	Permits Issued*	Permits Pending*	Permits Denied*
Agricultural Wells	3	0	3	0
Domestic Wells	7	5	2	0

*Of those received
Agricultural Permits received since EO issued on March 28, 2022

Received	Replacement well	New well	Issued**	Pending
50	13	37	6	44

**all are replacement wells

Groundwater Conditions Update (Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency)

In March 2022, the YSGA completed spring groundwater measurements on 62 representative monitoring wells, and as seen on the hydrograph below, the average depth to water was at approximately 45 feet. As of August 23, 2022, groundwater elevations are approximately 6 feet lower than last year at this time, and approximately 9 feet lower than 2015 at this time.
 
Given the lack of surface water that’s available to the region this year, the YSGA is currently forecasting that fall groundwater elevations will be close to the 1976/1977 drought average elevation of 65 feet to depth-to-water.  The 1976/77 drought is considered to be the worst recorded drought in California's history. The YSGA will complete fall groundwater elevation measurements in September 2022.
 
The YSGA will use fall groundwater elevations in the representative monitoring wells to assist in the written verification process for determining whether new agricultural wells are consistent with the adopted Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (Section 9a of the Governor’s EO).