Affirm continuing drought emergency and receive update on status of emergency drought response. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Carey)

Affirm continuing drought emergency and receive update on status of emergency drought response. 

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 at the June 7, 2022 meeting. The Board will receive the next drought update from staff at the July 26, regularly scheduled Board meeting. 

Emergency Drought Response (Yolo County Office of Emergency Services)

Funding authorized by the Board of Supervisors in 2021 for Yolo OES response to drought was $50,000.  Funding provided by the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) for the above ground tank program (through a grant) is $559,500.  To date Yolo OES has spent $28,487.29 responding to residents' needs for the Drought in Yolo County.  On June 20th OES was notified by DWR that the money provided cannot be used on water for companion animals that are on the property of a Dry Well program participant.  OES is reviewing whether or not using the Board authorized funding source to pay for animal water will negate using it as a cost match.  To date, an extra case of bottled water has been supplied to households with companion animals for their drinking water needs.  One of the new dry well reporting addresses has two horses on property as well.  If funds cannot be used for companion animals, their need for water will become a gap in existing programs.
 

The week of May 23rd 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.

On March 28, 2022, Governor Newsom issued a new Executive Order (EO-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. Yolo Subbasin (almost 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 working with a consultant to develop procedures to review new agricultural well permits to determine compliance with section 9b of Executive Order N-7-22 ("the EO"), 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, including requiring a report from a California licensed Professional Geologist with a Certified Hydrogeologist specialty certification.  YCEH is working to develop a method to make the determinations required by Section 9b and does not anticipate having to require such an expert report in most cases.  The County expects to have finalized the process for the required Section 9b review within the next month.


 
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, CAO, 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 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 for the irrigation of 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 has implemented its Level 2 water restrictions and 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. 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, and staff anticipate returning to the Board with a resolution implementing Level 2 drought restrictions in the North Davis Meadows, El Macero, and Willowbank County Service Areas.

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 June 20, 2022, groundwater elevations are approximately 10 feet lower than last year at this time, and approximately 3 feet lower than 2015 at this time (based on YCFC&WCD/YSGA’s real-time groundwater monitoring network).  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 YSGA is using the estimated fall groundwater elevations 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).

Staff have, and will continue to, collaborate with the YCFC&WCD, the YSGA, the Water Resources Association of Yolo County, all in-county water purveyors, the general public, and state and federal agencies.