Webinar set on Sonoma County’s well-drilling ordinance

The public is invited to participate in an informational webinar on Thursday focusing on Permit Sonoma’s proposal to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to enact new standards for drilling wells.

The webinar, which will take place from 4 to 5 p.m., will be offered on Zoom (here). Featuring a panel of experts and a Q&A period, it will be streamed on the county’s Facebook page in English and on its YouTube channel in Spanish. After the event, a recording of the webinar will be available on YouTube.

Community members also invited to participate in the public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 4, during the board’s regular meeting at the Supervisors Chambers, 575 Administration Blvd. in Santa Rosa.

If approved by the Supervisors, the amended ordinance would create a new framework for Permit Sonoma to evaluate environmental impacts while reviewing applications for permits to drill new or replacement groundwater wells.

The proposed ordinance can be viewed on the county’s website (here). The public is encouraged to comment on the amendment by emailing Permit Sonoma at Permit-Sonoma-Wells-PublicInput@sonoma-county.org through Monday, Oct. 3.

Permit Sonoma announced revisions to its proposal this month. The revised proposal further defines which wells would be required to undergo a public trust review, adds new ways for wells to be permitted ministerially and include specific requirements for well monitoring and water conservation.

The area in which a public trust review would be required includes areas where the underlying aquifer if likely to be interconnected to streams and navigable waters. This Public Trust Review Area includes areas mapped as subterranean stream and potential stream depletion areas for the state in 2010, as well as critical watershed areas and priority basins. Wells outside the area would be exempt from a public trust review.

An exemption from the discretionary public trust review is provided for the following wells:

• Replacement water wells for domestic purposes where usage is limited to 2 acre feet per year

• Water wells where usage is limited to 2 acre feet per year and where the applicant implements water conservation requirements detailed in the ordinance

• Water wells for existing land uses where usage is limited to the amount of groundwater used at the date of the ordinance passage, and water conservation requirements are limited

An average household uses approximately a half-acre-foot of water per year.

Sonoma County is updating its well ordinance in response to evolving California case law that requires local governments to protect the health of rivers and other public trust resources. To comply with a 2018 decision by the state Court of Appeal, the county will need to evaluate potential adverse impacts to public trust resources in navigable waterways before approving a permit for a new well.

Applicants may be required to submit additional information, depending on the location and use of the proposed well.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.