Temporary Urgency Change Order for Water Right Permit 12947B

Temporary Urgency Change Order for Water Right Permit 12947B

On August 18, 2014, the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water conservation Improvement District (Mendocino District) filed a Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water board) requesting approval of changes to Permit 12947B pursuant to Water code section 1435. The TUCP requests the following temporary changes: (1) addition of four drought emergency terms to compliment and support a TUCP filed by the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) on August 14, 2014, (2) changes to the place of use for irrigation to reflect the actual area served by the District, and (3) a 100-acre increase in the net acreage limitation within the gross place of use for irrigation purposes. Ordinarily, the State Water Board must comply with any applicable requirements of the CEQA prior to issuance of any order approving a TUCP pursuant to Water Code section 1435. However, on April 25, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. issued a Proclamation of a Continued State of Emergency, which included a directive to suspend the requirements of CEQA as applied to certain actions called for in the proclamation to allow those actions to take place as quickly as possible. This suspension applies to actions to immediately and expeditiously process requests to move water to areas of need as described in Directive 2 of the governor's April 25, 2014 proclamation, and to actions to conserve water as described in Directive 3 of the proclamation. The purpose of the changes sought by the TUCP are to move water to areas of need and to conserve water which are consistent with Directives 2 and 3 of the Governor's proclamation.

Mendocino