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 October 25, 2022 meeting. The Board will receive the next drought update from staff at the January 24, 2023, regularly scheduled Board meeting. 

Emergency Drought Response (Yolo County Office of Emergency Services) 

The Office of Emergency Services ("OES") provides bottled drinking water and non-potable water for basic domestic hygiene via above ground storage tanks. These services are provided to residents who are experiencing dry wells. The program is funded via a grant from the State Department of Water Resources (more information provided below).  The sole criteria for enrollment on the emergency drinking water program is that the resident must be trying to replace or re-drill their well.  Residents who affirm that they are not trying to replace their well are not eligible. 

The map provided below depicts the locations of reported dry wells within Yolo County. The size and color of the "dot" on the map corresponds to the geographic intensity of well outages, therefore the larger and more intense the color of the dot, the more dry well reports received in that general location. 



Dry Well Heat Map, as of November 21, 2022

Dry Well Reporting:

Well Type	# Wells	Notes	Status Update
Household	25	Fourteen 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.	1 report has been resolved since last month. 2 reports have been added since last month, but they do not plan to drill a new well and are not eligible for drinking water assistance
Small Business	0
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.  The 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 $54,000 responding to residents needs for the Drought. Billing is done quarterly, therefore there is no update since the October 2022 drought update.  
 
In September OES staff delivered more than 180 cases of bottled water.  Due to increased reports, bottled water delivery changed to a pick-up-based distribution system. For the month of November, we anticipate approximately 250 cases will be picked up by the end of the month.

Groundwater Well Permit Processing (Yolo County Environmental Health)

On March 28, 2022, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-7-22. Of particular interest to Yolo County is a provision in the Executive Order (EO) that requires additional review and analysis of applications for groundwater well permits in medium and high priority groundwater basins (Section 9 of the EO addresses the well permit requirements). 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
Domestic wells and public water supply system wells are exempt from the EO, so the primary impact of the EO has been on agricultural, non-domestic well applications. Since the issuance of the EO, County staff from Environmental Health, County Counsel's Office, Natural Resources, and Yolo OES along with staff from the Yolo Subbain Groundwater Agency ("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 required for new wells, i.e., that the groundwater extraction by the proposed well would not be inconsistent with the 2022 Yolo Groundwater Sustainability Plan and will not decrease the likelihood of achieving the YSGA's sustainability goals for the Yolo Subbasin. 

Section 9b of the EO requires that Yolo County Environmental Health ("YCEH)" to make a determination that the proposed agricultural 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. Many are requiring a report from a California licensed Professional Geologist with a Certified Hydrogeologist (“Licensed Professional”) specialty certification.
 
YCEH worked with a hydrogeologist from Luhdorff & Scalmanini, Consulting Engineers ("LSCE"), to develop temporary well permit processing procedures to address the new EO requirements. These temporary procedures are described in the attached memo and process flowchart that LSCE prepared for YCEH (see Attachments A and B to this staff report).  With the temporary well permitting procedures that LSCE has developed, YCEH anticipates that it in many cases such an expert report will not be required if a proposed well satisfies the requirements (primarily, meeting minimum separation distances from existing nearby wells), but an applicant may also opt to submit an expert report. This temporary well permit process will only be utilized while the EO is in effect.   
  
Well Permit Update: October 2022 Summary Report

 

	Permit Applications Received	Permits Issued*	Permits Pending**	Permits Denied*
Agricultural Wells	3	1	2	0
Domestic Wells	7	4	3	0

*Of those received
**For all pending domestic well permit application more information has been requested in order to complete the application review
 
Agricultural Permits received since EO issued on March 28, 2022

Received	Replacement well	New well	Issued*	Pending**
53	16	36	14	40

*all are replacement wells
**For pending agricultural well permits applications, two (2) are replacement wells in which the applicant has not submitted an abandonment permit of the existing well which is needed in order to be reviewed under the replacement well process and 37 are new wells in which the applicant has elected to wait for the County to implement the temporary well permitting procedures to comply with the EO.
 
Groundwater Conditions (Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency)

The YSGA recently compiled fall measurements from wells throughout the Subbasin. Groundwater levels hit their low point in September and have showed some recovery. As of November 22, 2022, groundwater elevations are approximately nine feet lower than last year at this time and approximately six 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). Out of 62 representative monitoring wells, eight wells exceeded their minimum threshold value during Fall 2022 (this is below the number that causes a basin-wide undesirable result).

Water Conservation (Yolo County Service Areas, Department of Community Services)



In addition to the well permitting requirement, the EO 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 October 2022, Wild Wings CSA has conserved approximately 27% percent compared to October 2020.

In addition to the requirements for urban water suppliers, the SWRCB’s emergency regulations imposed conservation requirements Statewide for all Californians.  The restrictions include prohibitions on the following until January 2023, which the SWRCB is expected to extend for another year (until January 2024) at its meeting on December 7, 2022:

• Outdoor watering that lets water run onto sidewalks and other areas (except incidental runoff)
• Washing vehicles without an automatic shutoff nozzle
• Washing hard surfaces like driveways or sidewalks that don’t absorb water
• Street cleaning or construction site preparation
• Filling decorative fountains, lakes, or ponds
• Outdoor watering within 48 hours after at least 1/4 inch of rainfall
• Watering ornamental turf on public medians.

Watering non-functional turf/lawns in commercial, industrial, and institutional areas, including common areas of homeowners’ associations (HOAs) is also prohibited until June 2023. Non-functional turf is defined as a ground cover surface of mowed grass that is ornamental and not otherwise used for human recreation purposes. Non-functional turf does not include school fields, sports fields, and areas regularly used for civic or community events.

The periodic drought updates to the Board are the result of collaboration between staff from several County divisions including the Office of Emergency Services, Environmental Health, County Service Areas, Natural Resources, Office of County Counsel, and the County Administrator's Office. Staff have and will continue to collaborate with the YCFC&WCD, the YSGA, all in-county and surrounding water purveyors, the general public, and state and federal agencies.