Woodland Daily Democrat

Angry words from local landowners fail to sway majority of county supervisors

By ROBIN HINDERY/rhindery@dailydemocrat.com
Article Created: 05/13/2008 02:53:54 PM PDT

Before a roomful of angry local landowners, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday narrowly voted to move forward with a draft ordinance that would significantly change the way the county manages groundwater and domestic well operations.

The draft Water Management Ordinance would allow for the creation of a board-appointed, countywide agency tasked with monitoring and regulating the pumping of groundwater on all public and private land. Current well owners would have to provide that agency with extensive data on their wells, and those seeking to drill a well would need a permit from the agency.

In addition, the new water agency would establish so-called "Basin Management Objectives," which would regulate the pumping of groundwater in an effort to protect water supplies and quality, as well as minimize land subsidence, which is the lowering of ground-surface elevation due to excessive groundwater pumping. If those objectives were not being met, the agency would be authorized to reduce or terminate groundwater pumping.

After a contentious period of public comment and internal debate that lasted nearly two hours Tuesday, the board voted 3-2 to proceed with a proposed three-month timeline of community outreach and stakeholder meetings to discuss the plan.

The approved motion also called for a joint meeting between county staff and various independent water-focused entities such as the Yolo County Water Resources Association and the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

Supervisors Mike McGowan, Helen Thomson and Mariko Yamada voted in favor of the motion, while supervisors Duane Chamberlain and Matt Rexroad opposed it.

Read more on this story in Wednesday's Daily Democrat.