Affirm continuing drought emergency and receive and file monthly drought update. (No general fund impact) (Pinedo/Bryan)

Affirm continuing drought emergency and receive and file monthly drought update. 

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 despite recent storms. 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 August 30, 2022 meeting. The Board will receive the next drought update from staff at the October 25, 2022, 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 the drought was $50,000.  Grant funding provided by the State Dept of Water Resources for the "Dry Well Assistance Program," the County's above ground water tank program, is $559,500.  To date Yolo OES has spent just over $43,000 responding to dry wells in Yolo County.
 
The week of May 23, 2022,  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 to support 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 for those with dry wells.  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.
 

Well Type	# Wells	Notes	Status Update
Household	27	Eighteen 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.   –	Increased by 1 new report since last month. 1 report has been resolved 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.	Dry well resolved. New well is complete and functioning.
Cemetery	2	One cemetery has water to their building, but grounds have no access to water.  Another cemetery has no water but has set up porta-potties and bottled water for those working at the location.

 

Groundwater Well Permit Processing (Yolo County Environmental Health)

Background

On March 28, 2022, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-7-22. The Executive Order (EO). 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 (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 non-domestic (agricultural) well permits only. It has two requirements: (1) Section 9a of the EO requires review by YSGA to determine if the proposed well is consistent with the Groundwater Sustainability Plan; and (2) Section 9b requires additional review by the County related to interference and subsidence, as explained further below.
 
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. YCEH is working with a hydrogeologist with Luhdorff & Scalmanini, Consulting Engineers (LSCE), to develop a method to make the determinations required by Section 9b.  The County met 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 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.
 
Legislation had been proposed, Assembly Bill 2201 (AB 2201), that would have implemented similar permanent well permitting review requirements to those required by the EO.  AB 2201, however, failed to pass and the additional well permitting requirements imposed by the EO will only be in place until the drought emergency is lifted by the Governor unless new legislation is proposed next legislative session. 

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 (Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency)

The YSGA recently completed fall groundwater measurements on 123 monitoring wells, and as seen on the preliminary hydrograph below, the average depth to water was at approximately 75 feet.  The YSGA was projecting fall groundwater levels to be similar to the 1976/1977 drought average elevation, and the preliminary data is illustrating levels are in the range.  An updated representative monitoring well hydrograph will be provided in a future drought update to the Board. As of September 21, 2022, groundwater elevations are approximately 7 feet lower than last year at this time, and approximately 10 feet lower than 2015 at this time.
 
The YSGA is relying on the 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).




Water Conservation

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 has implemented its Level 2 water restrictions, which limits outdoor irrigation to three days per week, 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. 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 August 2022, Wild Wings CSA has conserved approximately 27% percent compared to August 2020.