Agricultural Water Well Urgency Ordinance
Summary
SCH Number
2024101098
Public Agency
Yolo County
Document Title
Agricultural Water Well Urgency Ordinance
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
10/25/2024
Document Description
On October 22, 2024, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors adopted an urgency ordinance entitled, "An Urgency Ordinance Temporarily Extending Certain Requirements on the Issuance of Agricultural Water Well Permits in the Unincorporated Area of Yolo County Pending Completion of Long-Term Well Ordinance Amendments." The urgency ordinance temporarily extends the well permitting procedures enacted in compliance with Executive Order N-3-23 (and prior EO N-7-22), issued by Governor Newsom, to protect the health, safety, and welfare while considering long-term revisions to well permitting regulations and minimize disruptions in well permit review through October 31, 2025, in the unincorporated areas of Yolo County.
• Well separation distance requirements developed by the Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers Technical Memo;
• Requiring review by the applicable Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA), namely the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency
• Maintains exemptions for domestic wells (wells producing less than two acre-feet per year for individual domestic water use), public supply system wells as defined in Health & Safety Code § 116275, monitoring wells or other wells not intended for extraction of groundwater, and minor alterations to certain existing wells are exempt from the urgency ordinance;
• No longer requires additional information regarding replacement wells regarding the use history and instead requires that the replacement well meet the minimum separation distances from other wells (replacement wells will also still require abandonment of the well being replaced);
• Adds a hardship exemption; and
• Maintains the two-year term for well permits while the urgency ordinance is in place approved during prior droughts and with the latest Technical Memo update on April 9, 2024 (YCC sec. 6-8.804(b) otherwise provides that well permits are only valid for 120 days).
The urgency ordinance is effective immediately (October 22, 2024).
Contact Information
Name
Jeff Anderson
Agency Name
Yolo County Department of Community Services
Job Title
Principal Planner
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Counties
Yolo
Regions
Countywide, Unincorporated
Other Location Info
Countywide
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
Section 15060(c)(2); Section 15061(b)(3)
Reasons for Exemption
Section 15060(c)(2) provides that an activity is not subject to CEQA if the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. The urgency ordinance simply maintains requirements for well separation distances and GSA review to protect against impact from new wells. It is therefore not a project under CEQA as the temporary well permit procedures will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect change in the environment. Section 15061(b)(3) provides that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects, which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. There is no possibility that the urgency ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment, as the urgency ordinance temporarily extends the well permitting procedures enacted in compliance with Executive Order N-3-23 (and prior EO N-7-22).
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Section 15307 (Class 7); Section 15308 (Class 8)
Reasons for Exemption
Section 15307 (Class 7) consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies as authorized by state law or local ordinance to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of a natural resource where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. Section 15308 (Class 8) consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. The urgency ordinance will protect groundwater resources and the environment by extending well permitting procedures to ensure that new wells are consistent with the respective Groundwater Sustainability Plans and have sufficient separation from existing wells to minimize interference with nearby wells.
County Clerk
Yolo
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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