The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a water well permitting urgency ordinance Tuesday that expands the review process, in response to a drought-related state executive order.
“Drought conditions in California are now considered to be severe across at least 95% of the state. Santa Barbara County is currently experiencing the driest 10-year rainfall period on record,” said Lars Seifert with Public Health’s Environmental Health Services Division.
The Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency because of the drought in July 2021, and in March of this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order adding steps to local water well permitting review, he said.
The order, which exempts domestic and public water wells, will require certain findings to be made for irrigation wells before counties can issue permits for new wells or changes to existing wells, he said.
Counties will need to evaluate well applications to assess whether they would interfere with production capacity of nearby wells or cause adverse subsidence (sinking of the ground which can be caused by groundwater pumping and mineral extraction) or damage to nearby infrastructure.
Applicants will have to tell the county the type, location and use of the well, which is also required now, and the production yield (how much water is pumped out over time), which is requested but not required on permit applications now, Seifert said.
Groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) will have to weigh in on the applications for wells proposed in medium- and high-priority basins, according to the county, which includes the Carpinteria, Montecito, San Antonio Creek Valley, Santa Ynez River Valley and Cuyama Valley basins.
The review process will assess a well’s impact on nearby well production.
County supervisors approved the urgency ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting and said the associated fees for additional review will come back for consideration in June.
First District Supervisor Das Williams said the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, which is in his district, is so critically over-drafted that the management plan requires pumping decreases for 20 years, so it would be hard to show that new wells in that area do not affect the basin and the management plan.
“So our process we believe the GSA and the GSA’s process will be, we’ll believe the large pumper who has more money than God and is suing to stop the (groundwater sustainability plan) from going into place in the first place. So can you guys see how this is really not working for Cuyama?” Williams said.
He asked county staff to conduct technical reviews for the GSA verification letters.
The county cannot object to a GSA’s findings in this process, but can provide feedback and is the agency that makes the decision on issuing water well permits, staff said.
The Montecito Water District asked the county to request specific well production data from applicants. The district in 2020 decided to start a private well metering pilot program to get a better idea of how much water is pumped from the local basin by private wells.
“We’re trying to find the sweet spot between not adding burdens to places that don’t have a concern and ratcheting up the heat in places that do,” Second District Supervisor Gregg Hart said during Tuesday’s meeting.
The urgency ordinance will be in effect while the California Executive Order is in effect, according to the county.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.