Water water water
By Scott Steward
The Yolo County staff report from Elisa Sabatini, Manager of Natural Resources, has noticeably left out any specific recommendation for water policy in Yolo County. This leaves the decision to place a much needed well moratorium entirely up to our Yolo County supervisors.
Yolo residents should be very concerned about Item 35 Groundwater Conditions and Well Permits being heard at Tuesday, September 12th Board of Supervisors Meeting.
On July 11th, ten citizens, comprised of farmers and residents, testified to Yolo County about water table depletion. They were unified in their call for a moratorium on new wells and regulations to rebalance the water pumped from new and existing wells.
Anne Main – farming Good Humus for 47 years "…there is over 6,000 acres of perennial plantings on previously un-irrigated land in Hungry Hollow alone. … 60% of Hungry Hollow land is (now) in permanent orchards and vineyards."
Our late Gary Sandy, about a year ago, placed the sole vote against the renewal of the Teichert aggregate mine due to his concerns about our local water quality and quantity. We need to apply Sandy's resolve now to protect our water.
The water pumping operational efficiencies (borrowing from fracking technology) draws water from hundreds of feet deeper, and draws water from every level of aquifer in between, to bring water to land not previously irrigated, to feed tens of thousands of acres of perennial export crops (trees and vines). Our beloved table crop farms need your help now.
Further background from the July 11th Yolo County Board of Supervisors Meeting
The trepidation of our county staff is possibly due to the presence of lawyered up corporate farms, and some larger local operations, waiting to pounce on Yolo County should the supervisors vote for the much needed well moratorium and water pumping regulation.
There is no rational reason to proceed with more permits considering these experiences of water table overdraft and depletion. The State of California Water Board even states this rule of thumb in their own advisements to counties.
On July 11th the Board took up item 33, update on the drought, current groundwater conditions, and well permits. This item was taken up by the county in part to respond to California Governor's Executive Order N-5-23. The executive order rolled back certain drought emergency provisions while leaving others in place. Two provisions are listed below.
Maintains orders focused on specific watersheds that have not benefited as much from recent rains, including the Klamath River and Colorado River basins, which both remain in drought;
Retains a state of emergency for all 58 counties to allow for drought response and recovery efforts to continue.
Item 33 public comment on July 11 included 10 residents and farmers all of whom reported loss of groundwater that correlated with new wells over the last 10 years mostly drilled to serve perennial year around crops that place "hard “demand on historically unirrigated lands
Ann Main – farming for 47 years in Hungry Hollow
"In the last 25 years there have been over 6,000 acres of perennial plantings on previously in-irrigated land in Hungry Hollow alone. We are now looking at 60% of Hungry Hollow land in permeant orchards and vineyards." "I have neighbors at risk of losing their family retirement homes due to the declining water tables. Our farm well did not increase after this past year’s wet weather, we are still 20ft below the previous year’s high levels."
Susan Pelican
320 acre farm between Davis and Woodland, 6th generation of farming.
"My wells are measured by this agency (YSGA) and the high point this year is equal to the low point 10 years ago."
Grant Davids, 36 years, Resident of Golden Bear Estates residential community
Professional Civil and Agricultural Engineer, practicing agricultural water management.
"We are taking more water out of the ground than is going into the ground. And we need to take action to rebalance the system so we are not over drafting ground water."
Carol Miller, Road 84
Residents at her property had been able to draw water from 125ft since 1913. Since 2016 she has had to drill again at a cost of $50,000 since the arrival of a 207,500 tree almond orchard a mile from her home.
Terry Zimmer
The annual ground water storage in 2022 is 1.6 million acre feet less today than what is was in 1998, 1/3 of the amount of water in (a full) Shasta Lake.
The lived experience of these venerable Yolo County citizen residents, water experts and farmers is unequivocal. They are all witness to water table depletion. Their request for a moratorium on new wells and regulations, on rebalancing the water pumped and water recharged, should be heeded without further delay.
There is no rational reason to proceed with more permits considering these experiences of water table overdraft and depletion. The State of California Water Board even states this rule of thumb in their own advisements to counties.
In the words of Neal K. Van Alfen former Dean of UCD's College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
"The challenge that the Board of Supervisors faces in addressing the sustainable use of Yolo County's land and water resources is that these resources are transitioning from the hands of those who work, and love, the land into those who see it only as an investment. We can no longer rely on good will to sustain our common resource."
Davisite 
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