Receive a presentation from the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency and Yolo County Environmental Health regarding well permits and the YSGA’s Draft “Focus Area” map, receive public comment, and determine whether to extend or allow the current agricultural well permit moratorium in the Central Yolo, Dunnigan Hills, and North Yolo Management Areas of the Yolo Subbasin to expire. (No general fund impact) (Lindbo/Meneghetti/Sabatini) (Est. Time: 10 min)

Background

At the July 11, 2023, Yolo County Board of Supervisors (Board) meeting, the Board directed staff to return to the Board by September 12, 2023, to provide options related to a temporary pause of new agricultural well permits in areas of special concern (Item #33). Staff presented three (3) options to the Board at the September 12, 20223, Board meeting (Item #35). After careful deliberation, the Board selected Option "C", a temporary ordinance prohibiting issuance of certain new agricultural wells permits within the Central Yolo, Dunnigan Hills, and North Yolo Groundwater Management Areas.  On September 26, 2023, the Board of Supervisors adopted an interim urgency ordinance (Ordinance No. 1563) entitled, "An Interim Urgency Ordinance of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Establishing a Temporary 45-Day Moratorium on the Approval of New Agricultural Water Well Permits in the Central Yolo, Dunnigan Hills, and North Yolo Groundwater Management Areas within the Yolo Subbasin, with specified exemptions, Pending the County and the Yolo Sustainable Groundwater Agency's Study, Identification, and Consideration of Areas of Special Concern," and adopted a Notice of Exemption pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act based on CEQA Guidelines, Sections 15060(c)(2), 15307, 15308, and 15061(b)(3). 

Per the Board's direction, the temporary ordinance:  

The temporary urgency ordinance will expire on November 10, 2023, without action to extend by the Board.  Staff was directed to return to the Board on November 7, 2023 with a recommendation to either (a) let the interim urgency ordinance expire on November 10, 2023, or (b) extend the temporary ordinance for a specific (to be determined) amount of time with potential modifications depending on the results of the YSGA's study and identification of Areas of Special Concern. 
 
The Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan adopted by the YSGA in January 2022, and approved by the State Department of Water Resources in October 2023, identifies certain "Areas of Special Concern" that may be experiencing declining groundwater levels and significant concerns have been raised by residents in these Areas of Special Concern as well as other areas in the County within the Central Yolo, Dunnigan Hills and North Yolo groundwater management areas, including Plainfield Ridge and Zamora, where data gaps exist and permitting of new agricultural wells in these areas may require further analysis to determine whether the YSGA and the County can make the requisite findings to approve such new wells as described in Governor Newsome's Executive Orders N-7-22 and N-3-23.

Reason for Recommended Action

Since September, the YSGA has completed its analysis to define the Areas of Special Concern, as well as the additional analysis that is necessary for wells in these areas. The intent and purpose of the interim ordinance was to temporarily halt the issuance of new agricultural water well permits in the denoted groundwater management areas within the Yolo Subbasin (Central Yolo, Dunnigan Hills, and North Yolo Management Areas), maintaining the status quo for a brief 45-day period to enable the County and the YSGA to study and develop policies and regulations and implement other recommended actions for well permits within Areas of Special Concern.

YSGA and Yolo County Environmental Health staff, counsel, and consultants have worked collaboratively to study and analyze both existing and new data to "remap" the Areas of Special Concern and data gap regions (collectively described by YSGA as "Focus Areas") using scientific metrics, including: historic groundwater levels, 10-year groundwater level trends, soil permeability, geology, existing monitoring wells, and proximity to clusters of domestic wells.  Buffer areas have been incorporated where appropriate. The newly revised "Areas of Special Concern / Focus Area" (AOSC/FA) map has been reviewed by the YSGA's "Drought Contingency Planning Committee" (comprised of YSGA Board members) multiple times and was unanimously approved for release by the YSGA Board of Directors for public comment on October 27, 2023. The public review period is scheduled to conclude on November 14, 2023.  The YSGA Board will convene again on November 20, 2023, to consider the following: 

At this time, staff recommends that the Board not extend the interim urgency ordinance, allowing the temporary moratorium imposed by Ordinance No. 1563 to expire. Formal modification of the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency's Executive Order compliance process for agricultural (non-exempt) wells and final identification of Focus Areas is anticipated to be completed on November 20, 2023, pursuant to which the YSGA will implement additional measures, including requiring hydrogeology reports for certain wells in identified Focus Areas as early as December. The County's moratorium is geographically broader than the YSGA's new Focus Area map and is no longer necessary throughout the Central Yolo, Dunnigan, and North Yolo Management Areas of the Yolo Subbasin based on the YSGA's additional Focus Area map analysis. As required by the Governor’s Executive Order N-3-23 (formerly N-7-22) governing well permits, the County is prohibited from issuing new well permits unless and until the YSGA provides written verification that a non-exempt proposed well is not inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management program established in the applicable Groundwater Sustainability Plan adopted by YSGA and will not decrease the likelihood of achieving a sustainability goal for the Yolo Subbasin. The County will not issue well permits until the YSGA provides the written verification as required by the Governor's Executive Order, and thus for those non-exempt wells in the identified Focus Areas, the County's review and permit approval process will follow the YSGA's updated verification process so the moratorium is no longer necessary.

Staff has collaborated with the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency whose members include all the water purveyors within Yolo County, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, and the Yolo County Farm Bureau; the State Department of Water Resources; neighboring groundwater sustainability agencies; regional well drillers; and other interested parties.