April 12, 2018 Stanislaus County Farm Bureau 1201 L Street, Modesto, California 1
Purpose Public Draft PEIR Comment Period: March 23 – May 7, 2018 Comments will be received in writing via email or mail to Walter Ward, Stanislaus County DER wward@envres.org Public Workshop to present PEIR and answer questions so you can formulate comments, but comments not received/recorded at workshop The purpose of this workshop is to provide information regarding the County’s discretionary well permitting program and the environmental analysis and findings of the PEIR and answer questions that attendees may have. This is intended to enable attendees to formulate comments regarding the PEIR. The workshop is not intended to receive comments and there are no provisions to formally record any comments that are provided. Comments are encouraged and should be submitted in writing to Walter Ward. 2
Acknowledgements – Workshop #5 This workshop is part of a project that is financed under the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, (Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program), administered by State of California, Department of Water Resources Local Contributors Include: Stanislaus County City of Patterson Oakdale ID Rock Creek WD City of Modesto City of Newman Eastside WD Trinitas Farming City of Turlock City of Waterford Del Puerto WD MCCV City of Ceres City of Hughson West Stanislaus ID Agricultural Preservation Alliance, City of Riverbank Turlock ID Central Calif. ID Inc. City of Oakdale Modesto ID Patterson ID 3
Acknowledgements – PEIR Preparation Jacobson James & Associates – Mike Tietze, Nick Anchor, Juliet Hutchins, Linda Mercurio Tetra Tech – John Bock, Steve Carlton, Sujoy Roy, Clifford Jarman, Ann Zoidis, Julia Mates, Genevieve Kaiser, Angela Lortie Stanislaus County ‐ Walt Ward 4
Presenters Mike Tietze, P.G., C.EG., C.H.G. – JJ&A Principal Juliet Hutchins – JJ&A Staff Geologist Linda Mercurio, PMP – JJ&A Project Manager 5
Agenda County Groundwater Ordinance PEIR Overview PEIR Findings Lessons Learned from PEIR Next Steps 6
County Groundwater Ordinance 7
Lessons learned from recent drought Limits on agricultural in eastern foothills based on sustainability Decrease in surface water availability led to over ‐ pumping of GW Surface water use helped GW levels recover Integrated management of GW, surface water, reclaimed water, storm water, and recharge essential Expansion of irrigated agriculture in unincorporated areas of the eastern foothills portion of the County may not be sustainable in the long term at the rate at which it occurred from 200 to 2015 (60,000 acres in 15 years). Fortunately this rate has greatly decreased since 2015 and is much lower now. Management of surface and GW in an integrated fashion is critical to maintaining healthy aquifers. 8
County Groundwater Ordinance Adopted November 2014 Purpose of the Ordinance Protection of groundwater resources Prevention of economic and environmental harm Preparation for compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act 9
Purpose of Ordinance Groundwater Ensure GW is Storage Water Reduction Surface managed Quality Water Degradation sustainably Depletion Unsustainable Avoid Groundwater Groundwater negative Extraction Subsidence Level impacts Decline Local economy (e.g., cost to fix infrastructure damage caused by subsidence, drilling deeper wells to find water) and the environment can be negatively impacted if groundwater resources are not managed properly. The Ordinance requires applicants for new wells that are not exempt to provide substantial evidence that they will not withdrawing groundwater unsustainably. The substantial evidence must address each of the resource areas that are identified in the Ordinance and listed in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. 10
Protection of Groundwater Resources Applicants provide evidence of: Sustainable groundwater extraction Less than significant impact to environment County processes application; initiates CEQA process If County deems sustainable, permit issued In addition to providing substantial evidence that the proposed groundwater extraction is sustainable, the need for County approval makes the permit discretionary and triggers an environmental 11
review under CEQA. Evidence must be provided that the direct and indirect environmental impacts of the proposed extraction will be less than significant. 11
Effective Area Does not apply to exempt wells: Does not apply in incorporated areas Water districts and their rate payers with GMPs – these generally receive surface water and it is expected that 12
new wells would supplement those surface water resources Domestic wells (<2 AFY) Stock wells (<2AFY) Replacement wells 12
Ordinance aligns with SGMA Ordinance Ordinance Adopted GSPs Implemented Adopted; GSPs Ordinance Implemented Subordinate If County Finds Evidence of Unsustainable Extraction – Steps In Shows the time line during which the prohibition on unsustainable extraction in the Ordinance is applicable to well permitting. The discretionary well permitting program is expected to be used primarily between the present and the time that GSPs are adopted, which is 2020 in the Eastern San Joaquin and Delta‐Mendota Subbasins, and 2022 in the Modesto and Turlock Subbasins. At that time, well permit applications will be considered exempt and sustainability will be reviewed and enforced by the GSAs in compliance with their GSPs. However, if the County finds that any well is not being operated sustainably, it can request substantial evidence of sustainable extraction and the prohibition against unsustainable extraction will apply. It is anticipated that the County will not need to exert this authority, and if so, would be a very rare occurrence; however, it is included in the Ordinance as an additional safeguard. 13
Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) 14
Key Sections Chapter 2 – Describes Program Chapter 3 – Environmental Setting Chapter 4 – Impact Analysis Does not apply to: Water districts with GMPs Domestic wells Stock wells Replacement wells 15
Purpose of PEIR Streamline the Well Permit Application Process Provide a robust technical basis for Ordinance implementation Provide data to help facilitate future GW sustainability planning 16
Benefits of PEIR Studies conducted for the PEIR generated much useful information for GSAs as they prepare GSPs Example: Hydrologic model that can aid in assessing potential impacts of future wells Can be used as a reference document for future applications and impact assessments The PEIR can provide an easy reference document for future applications and give a better understanding of hydrologic conditions. Identify issues and compile data for future evaluation of groundwater sustainability. Future CEQA documents can “tier off” the analyses in the PEIR, avoiding the need to redo some analysis for individual projects. 17
Broad Greater flexibility to implement GW Consideration of management strategies Alternatives Mitigation strategies Program ‐ Wide Consideration of cumulative impacts Comprehensive Key issues won’t be revisited Consideration A program‐wide PEIR will assist in development of mitigation strategies (e.g., GW Management Zones) and consideration of cumulative impacts. Avoids revisiting some common issues during evaluation of individual well applications. 18
No Significant Initial Study DONE impact Potential Significant Impact No Significant PEIR DONE impact Potential Significant Impact Well Application Specific Analysis First, an Initial Study was conducted and any potential significant impacts were carried forward and addressed in the PEIR. Any found to have the potential for significant impact in the PEIR will be carried forward and addressed during the well application analysis. Others are addressed and not required to be analyzed again. 19
Evaluations Included in PEIR Initial Study evaluated impacts in 17 resource areas: Aesthetics Mineral Population Public Recreation Resources & Housing Services Transportation Greenhouse Air Quality Biological Cultural & Traffic Gas Resources Resources Emissions Geology & Soils Hazards & Hazardous Hydrology & Land Use & Materials Water Quality Planning Noise Utilities & Service Systems Agriculture & Forestry Resources These 17 resource areas are required to evaluated under CEQA. Of these 17 resource areas, the five in the top row and Transportation & Traffic were determined to have no significant impact during the Initial Study phase and were not carried forward for the PEIR analysis. 20
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