Alpine County Municipal Code Art. I Declaration of Findings and Purpose

The board finds and declares:

A. The groundwater underlying Alpine County has historically provided the people and lands of Alpine County with water for agricultural, domestic, municipal and other purposes.

B. The board recognizes the principle developed in the case law of California that water may be appropriated from a groundwater basin if the groundwater supply is surplus and exceeds the reasonable and beneficial needs of overlying users.

C. It is essential for the protection of the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the county, and the public benefit of the state, that groundwater resources of Alpine County be protected from harm resulting from the extraction of groundwater for use outside the county.

D. Much of the farm production of the county depends upon the use of water to produce field crops which significantly contribute to the gross value of all agricultural crops produced in the county.

E. Much of the water supply for residential needs in the county is provided by groundwater.

F. The groundwater of Alpine County is and will be a vital part of future water use in the county.

G. The county seeks to foster prudent water management practices to avoid significant adverse overdraft-related environmental, social, and economic impacts. It is therefore essential for the protection of the county’s important groundwater resources that the county require a permit to extract groundwater for use outside the county. The chapter requires a permit for the export of groundwater outside the county and is not intended to regulate groundwater in any other way.

H. In adopting this chapter, the county in no way intends to limit either the county or other public entities, in managing groundwater under any other applicable laws in a manner consistent with any adopted groundwater management plan. (Ord. 646 § 1, 2003)