As drought gets worse, some wells will trigger environmental review in Stanislaus County
The courts ruled that Stanislaus County can’t simply give administrative approval for well permits, and the county is now working on policies to decide which well permits will require an environmental review.
Amid a rush on well permits during the previous drought in 2014, the county was hit with a lawsuit from Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources, challenging the county’s rubber-stamping of well applications.
The county issued more than 500 new water well permits that year, many of them for farmers raising orchards in the eastern part of the county. It raised concerns that large industrial-sized wells for irrigation were sapping groundwater supplies.
In 2015, a second lawsuit took issue with a single well permit.
The two cases were litigated up to the California Supreme Court, which issued an opinion last year that some well permits should be reviewed for environmental impacts — such as a well close to a septic system or another contamination source.
An appeals court ruling in March established that wells in an area that has flooded historically should trigger an environmental review. The Stanislaus Superior Court on Sept. 1 amended a previous judgment, obligating the county to change its practices and determine the appropriate amount of environmental scrutiny for new wells.
The new county policies will affect 67 well applications in the pipeline and future requests for new water wells, which could intensify if the severe drought continues in California.
The county Board of Supervisors is slated to discuss the matter Tuesday evening. One supervisor said it’s a critical issue for farmers who have millions of dollars invested in tree crops. He hopes the board will appoint two of its members to work with staff on shaping the new permit process.
”I think the courts missed the mark on this,” Supervisor Terry Withrow said. “We are going to work very fast. If we are stuck in another drought year and we have further restrictions, some orchards will not make it through the next harvest without the ability to draw water from the ground.”
Withrow said he hopes agricultural wells that don’t fit within the two categories triggering a review (those in flood zones or near contamination sources) can qualify for timely administrative approval.
County staff to revamp permit process
The county’s department of environmental resources is working with the county counsel and consultants to revamp the permitting process.
According to a staff report, the county will come up with criteria for telling if a well permit triggers an environmental study, in compliance with the court rulings.
County leaders hope it can be done so a rural homeowner doesn’t need to pay for an environmental study before sinking a new well. The county also expects the new approach will exempt monitoring wells and replacements.
For other wells, the new approach will aim to protect groundwater quality and comply with the court rulings, without being “unduly burdensome” for applicants, the staff report says.
The county could take additional steps to streamline permitting after clearing the current backlog of water well applications. Tuesday’s agenda item is only for discussion. The board won’t vote on a new policy.
Withrow said the state’s groundwater management law was going to require more regulations on pumping in the Central Valley even without the recent court decisions, which have been watched by other counties.
The state has expected groundwater sustainability agencies to develop plans for striking a balance between wells and efforts to put water back into aquifers.
The county Board of Supervisors will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the meeting chambers at Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., in Modesto. People can watch a live stream of the meeting at www.stancounty.com/sclive/.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 3:02 PM.
