§ 10-7

The Board hereby finds and declares:

(a) The groundwater underlying Yolo County has historically provided the people and lands of Yolo County with water for agricultural, domestic, municipal and other purposes.

(b) The Board recognizes that 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 resource of Yolo County be protected from harm resulting from the extraction of groundwater for use on lands outside the County, until such time as needed additional surface water supplies are obtained for use on lands of the County, or overdrafting is alleviated, to the satisfaction of the Board.

(d) Much of the farm production of the County depends upon the use of groundwater to produce grapes, nut, fruit, field and vegetable crops which significantly contribute to the gross value of all agricultural crops produced in the County, estimated at nearly Three Hundred Million and no/100ths ($300,000,000.00) Dollars for 1994.

(e) The groundwater of Yolo County also provides water to several communities in the County, particularly to the cities of Davis, Winters and Woodland.

(f) The groundwater of Yolo County will be a vital part of future water use in the County. The present population of the County is nearly 150,000 and is conservatively projected to increase by the year 2020 to 315,000. Groundwater resources will serve as an important source of water supply to this increased population. As the water needs per acre of agriculture and urban areas are approximately equivalent for this region, and virtually all of the area to become urbanized is in irrigated agriculture, the consumptive demands of the groundwater lying beneath the County will remain essentially the same.

(g) Surface water supplies obtained in the future will be used conjunctively with groundwater. That is, surface water will be diverted in times of relatively high flows and groundwater will be used during dry periods when surface water is not readily available. In this regard, the greatest readily and economically available asset the County has in dealing with its water needs is its groundwater. Loss of the use of the groundwater would result in additional surface water needs. It is vital that the groundwater be preserved so that its capacity will be available for future conjunctive use.

ed during dry periods when surface water is not readily available. In this regard, the greatest readily and economically available asset the County has in dealing with its water needs is its groundwater. Loss of the use of the groundwater would result in additional surface water needs. It is vital that the groundwater be preserved so that its capacity will be available for future conjunctive use.

(h) The Yolo County Water Plan Update 1992 identifies areas in the Yolo-Zamora Water District and lands along the east side of the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District from Cache Creek to Putah Creek, encompassing the Cities of Davis and Woodland as the areas where groundwater is most important. These areas have experienced up to four (4’) feet of subsidence that has aggravated flooding from the Colusa Basin Drain. Where the levees along Cache Creek are up to four (4’) feet lower than their design elevation, the risk of flooding, especially to the City of Woodland, is substantially increased. Similarly, the levees along the Willow Slough Bypass are up to two (2’) feet lower than their design elevation, thereby posing a risk of flooding lands near the City of Davis.

(i) The Yolo County Water Plan update 1992 concludes that an additional 120,000 acres feet of supplemental surface water per year is needed by the year 2020 to achieve a balanced use of both surface and groundwater for the

County. The County and other public agencies in the County have worked with Federal, State, and other agencies to attempt to secure this needed supplemental surface water in order to relieve or alleviate the burden placed on the groundwater lying beneath the eastern portion of the County.

(j) 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. This chapter requires a permit for the export of groundwater outside the County and is not intended to regulate groundwater in any other way.

(k) In adopting this chapter, the County in no way intends to limit either the County or other public entities in managing groundwater under the Groundwater Management Act and any other applicable laws in a manner consistent with Yolo County Water Plan. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Article 2.

Definitions

• (a) “Groundwater Management Act” means Water Code Sections 10750 et seq.

• (b) “Aquifer” means a geologic formation that stores, transmits and yields significant quantities of water to wells and springs.

• (c) “Board” means the Board of Supervisors of Yolo County.

• (d) “Commission” means the Planning Commission of the County of Yolo and the WRA meeting jointly.

• (e) “County” means the County of Yolo.

• (f) “Director” means the Director of Community Development or his designee.

• (g) “District” means a district wholly or in part located within the boundaries of the county, which is a purveyor of waters for agricultural, domestic or municipal use.

• (h) “Groundwater” means all water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which

• the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water which flows in known and definite channels.

• (i) “Hydraulic gradient” means the slope of the water table.

• (j) “Hydrology” means the origin, distribution, and circulation of water through precipitation, stream flow, infiltration, groundwater storage and evaporation.

• (k) “Overdraft” means the condition of a groundwater supply in which the amount of water withdrawn by pumping exceeds the amount of water replenishing the supply over a period of time and also the point at which extractions from the supply exceed its safe yield plus any temporary surplus.

• (l) “Percolation” means the movement of water through the soil to the groundwater table.

• (m) “Permeability” means the capability of the soil or another geologic formation to transmit water.

• (n) “Piezometric surface” means the surface to which the water in a confined aquifer will rise.

• (o) “Porosity” means voids or open spaces in alluvium and rocks that can be filled with water.

• (p) “Recharge” means flow to groundwater storage from precipitation, irrigation, infiltration from streams, spreading basins and other sources of water.

• (q) “Safe yield” means the maximum quantity of water which can be withdrawn annual from a groundwater supply under a given set of conditions without causing overdraft or adverse water quality conditions. Specifically safe yields is the amount of water which can be withdrawn without:

(1) Exceeding in any calendar year the long-term mean annual water supply of the basin (considering all sources of recharge and withdrawal);

• (2) Lowering water levels so as to make further drilling of water wells uneconomical;

• (3) Causing water pumped from the basin to deteriorate below drinking water standards;

• (4) Violating water rights or restrictions in pumpage in the groundwater basin as established by court adjudication or application State or Federal law;

• (5) Other observable environmental damage.

• (r) “Specific capacity” means the volume of water pumped from a well in gallons per minute per foot of drawdown.

• (s) “Spreading water” means discharging native or imported water to a permeable area for the purpose of allowing it to percolate to the zone of saturation. Spreading, artificial recharge and replenishment all refer to operations used to place water in a groundwater table.

• (t) “Transmissivity” means the rate of flow of water through an aquifer.

• (u) “Usable storage capacity” means the quantity of groundwater of acceptable quality that can be economically withdrawn from storage.

• (v) “Water table” means the surface or level where groundwater is encountered in a well in an unconfined aquifer.

• (w) “Water year” means the year beginning March 1 and ending the last day of the following February.

• (x) “WRA” means the Water Resources Association of Yolo County.

• (y) “Zone of saturation” means the area below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with groundwater. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Article 3.

Permit Process

It shall be unlawful to extract groundwater underlying County, directly or indirectly, for use of that groundwater so extracted, outside County boundaries, without first obtaining a Permit as provided in this Chapter. The extraction of groundwater to replace a surface water supply to be transferred for use outside County boundaries shall be considered an indirect extraction of groundwater for purposes of this section, which shall require a Permit. This Chapter shall not apply for the extraction of groundwater (1) to prevent the flood of lands or (2) to prevent the saturation of the root zone of farmland, or (3) for use within the District boundaries of a District which is in part located within County and in part in another County(s) where such extraction quantities and use are consistent with historical practices of the District, or (4) for extractions to boost heads for portions of District facilities, consistent with historical practices of the District, or (5) for use on lands outside the County which are contiguous and in the same ownership to lands within the County from which the groundwater is extracted, where such extraction quantities and the use are consistent with historical practices of the landowners. The applicant shall have the burden of supporting an assertion of an historical practice with competent evidence. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996, as amended by § 1, Ord. 1210, eff. October 23, 1997)

An application for a permit shall be filed with the Director and shall contain all information required by the Director. Concurrently, a request for environmental review shall be filed as required by applicable County guidelines. The application for a permit and request for environmental review shall be accompanied by the fees which shall be established from time to time by the Board. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

(a) Within ten (10) calendar days of filing of the permit application, the Director shall post a notice on the departmental public bulletin board that an application has been filed, shall send a copy of the notice to the Districts and Cities within the County which have lands overlying or adjacent to the location of the extraction and to any interested party who has made a written request to the Director for such notice within the last twelve (12) calendar months. The Director shall review the application to determine whether it is complete for purposes of proceeding under the County guidelines adopted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

(b) The Director may review the matter of the application with the affected County departments, with the staff of the State Department of Water Resources, with the staff of the Regional Water Quality Board-Central Valley Region, and with any interested local water agency within whose boundary the proposed activity will occur. If the applicant is applying to pump groundwater from a District, City, or the unincorporated territory in which a groundwater management plan has been adopted pursuant to the Groundwater Management Act, the Director shall consider a groundwater management plan or any other relevant information provided by the District, City, or other local agency. Any interested person or agency may provide comments relevant to the matter of the extraction of groundwater. Comments shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of the date of mailing the notice of filing the permit application. (c) The environmental review shall be undertaken in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and County guidelines. All costs of the environmental review shall be the responsibility of applicant.

(d) Upon completion of the environmental review, the Director shall forward the application together with any written comments received, environmental documentations, and the Director’s recommendations, to the Commission. Upon receipt of the Director’s recommendation, the Commission shall immediately set a public review on the issuance of the permit which shall be noticed pursuant to Government Code Section 6061 and may not be held within fifteen (15) days of the time that the Commission receives the recommendation from the Director.

(e) The Commission shall hear the application in accordance with the provisions for public review and shall make recommendations to the Board. The scope of the recommendations extends to any relevant matter that may be considered by the Board, including but not limited to, the effects that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer, each of the findings required of the Board, any appropriate conditions to be imposed, and any mitigation offsetting any adverse effect.

ew and shall make recommendations to the Board. The scope of the recommendations extends to any relevant matter that may be considered by the Board, including but not limited to, the effects that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer, each of the findings required of the Board, any appropriate conditions to be imposed, and any mitigation offsetting any adverse effect.

(f) Upon receipt of the Commission’s recommendation, the Clerk of the Board shall immediately set a public review on issuance of the permit which shall be noticed pursuant to Government Code Section 6061. The Board shall hear the application in accordance with the provisions for public review and shall consider matters required to be considered during public review, including but not limited to, the effects that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer, make each of the findings on matters required for granting a permit, any appropriate conditions to be imposed, and any mitigation offsetting any adverse effect. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

The hearing bodies, whether Commission or Board, shall conduct the public review in accordance with this section. (a) The bodies forming the Commission shall meet jointly, but all actions shall be taken by a separate vote of each body. Action may be taken only if there is a majority of the membership of each body comprising the Commission present at the public review and if a majority of the total membership of each body concurs in the action. If the bodies are unable to concur on a single recommendation, each body shall make a separate recommendation.

(b) Formal rules of evidence shall not apply to the public review of the application, but the hearing body may establish such rules as will enable the expeditious presentation of the matter and relevant information thereto. At the public review, the applicant shall be entitled to present any oral or documentary evidence relevant to the application,

and the applicant shall have the burden of proof of establishing the facts necessary for the required findings. The hearing body may request any additional information it deems necessary for its decision, the cost of which, if any, shall be borne by the applicant. The hearing body shall also hear relevant evidence presented by other interested persons and entities, the Director, other County staff, and the public. The hearing body shall consider all effects that the granting of the permit application would have on the affected aquifer including, but not limited to, the hydraulic gradient, hydrology, percolation, permeability, piezometric surface, porosity, recharge, safe yield, specific capacity, spreading water, transmissivity, usable storage capacity, water table and zone of saturation. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

The permit may only be granted if the Board finds and determines that the extraction will not cause or increase an overdraft of the groundwater underlying the County, will not adversely affect the long term ability for storage or transmission of groundwaters within the aquifer, will not (together with other extractions) exceed the safe yield of the groundwater underlying the County unless the safe yield is exceeded only by extractions in connection with a conjunctive use program approved by the Board and will not otherwise operate to the injury of the reasonable and beneficial uses of overlying groundwater users, is otherwise in compliance with Water Code Section 1220, or will not result in an injury to a water replenishment, storage, or restoration project operating in accordance with statutory authorization. If the permit is to be granted, the Board shall impose appropriate conditions upon the permit so as to prohibit overdraft or other adverse conditions, and may impose other conditions that it deems necessary for the health, safety and welfare of the people of the County. Other conditions in the permit may include, but are not limited to, requirements for observation and/or monitoring wells. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board may issue the permit if the Board finds that the applicant has provided for mitigation which will offset any adverse effect that is determined to exist. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Reapplication for a permit which has been denied by the Board may not be filed with the Director until the following Water Year and must be accompanied with information that demonstrates a significant change in conditions in the groundwater and/or change in the proposed extraction. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 10-7.303, the Director may grant a permit in summary proceedings upon an application accompanied by a demonstration satisfactory to the Director showing that:

• (1) The extraction is for use in compliance with the provisions of Water Code Section 1220,

• (2) The extraction will not exceed 250 acre feet,

• (3) The term of the extraction will not exceed one year

• (4) The extraction is in accordance with a conjunctive use program adopted under the Groundwater Management Act or other applicable laws and approved by the Board.

(b) Upon receipt of an application for summary proceedings, the Director shall give notice of filing to the Commission and the Board. If the Board shall so order within twenty-one (21) days of receiving notice of the filing, proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Section 10-7.303; in the absence of such an order the Director shall determine the accuracy of the assertions of the application. The Director may grant a permit for one year only upon a favorable determination and may impose such appropriate conditions so as to make such a determination. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

(a) Any interested party or public entity may challenge the continuation of an approved permit during the term of the permit when information exists that:

• (1) There is a violation of the conditions of the permit, or

• (2) The permit was not issued in accordance with the procedure requirements of this chapter, or

• (3) Extraction of groundwater pursuant to the permit:

• (i) Causes or increases an overdraft in the basin, or

• (ii) Brings about or increases salt water intrusion, or

• (iii) Adversely affects the long-term ability for storage or transmission of groundwaters, or

• (iv) Exceeds the safe yield of the groundwaters, or

• (v) Operates to the injury of the reasonable and beneficial uses of overlying groundwater users, or

• (vi) Is in violation of Water Code Section 1220, or

• (vii) Results in an injury to a water replenishment, storage, or restoration project operating in accordance with statutory authorization.

(b) A challenge pursuant to this section is commenced by filing a written request with the Director which alleges any of the above situations and in general describes the supporting facts for such allegation. In such event, the Director shall within ten (10) days of receipt of such challenge, give notice of the challenge to the Commission, the Permittee, Appellant, to any interested party who filed a written request for such notice within the past twelve (12) months, and also the Districts and Cities, within the County, which have boundaries overlying or immediately adjacent to the location of the permitted extraction. Commission and Board reviews shall be held on the matter following the procedures set out in Sections 10-7.304 and 10-7.305. The recommendations and decision may be to deny the challenge, grant the challenge and terminate the permit, or to establish modified conditions to the permit.

(c) The standard for review shall be substantial evidence. The burden of proof is upon the person or entity filing the challenge. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

All permits shall be valid for a term set by the Board, not to exceed three (3) water years from the date of the issuance of the permit, or, if the permit is for extraction as part of a conjunctive use program that has been approved by the Board, the permit shall not exceed the length of the term of the program. For purpose of calculation, the water year in which the permit is granted shall not be counted in determining the three (3) year time period if less than four (4) months remain in the then water year. Provided, however, nothing contained in this chapter nor in the conditions of the permit shall be construed as to give exclusive right to groundwater to permittee nor establish a compensable right in the event that the permit is subsequently discontinued or modified by the Board after a hearing on a challenge to the permit. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

The permit process of this chapter is not to be construed as a grant of any right or entitlement but rather the permit evidences that the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the County will not be harmed by the extraction and exportation of groundwater outside the County boundaries. The permit in no way exempts, supersedes, or replaces any other provisions of Federal, State, and (with approval of the Board) District or local laws and regulations including but not limited to Water Code Section 1220, the Groundwater Management Act, and any actions provided for in California groundwater law, well drilling and maintenance or building permit requirements. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Article 4.

Inspection

The Director, with good cause, may at any and all reasonable times enter any and all places, property, enclosures and structures, for the purposes of making examinations and investigations to determine whether any provision of this chapter is violated. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Article 5.

Effective Date

These provisions of this chapter shall be effective as to the unincorporated portions of the County within thirty (30) days of its passage. The provisions of this chapter shall become effective in the incorporated portions of the cities within Yolo County upon adoption of each city by an Ordinance which makes the provisions of this chapter applicable to the incorporated area or which independently establishes an Ordinance incorporating compatible provisions. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)

Article 6.

Violations.

The County may elect to proceed with a civil action against a violator, including injunctive relief. Any person or entity who violates this chapter shall be subject to fines of up to Five Thousand and no/100ths ($5,000.00) Dollars per separate violation. A person shall be deemed to have committed separate violations for each and every day or portion thereof during which any such violation is committed, continued, or permitted as well as for and each and every separate groundwater well with which any such violation is committed, continued, or permitted. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)