Sonoma County officials forced to have more care with well permits along Russian River
Three years ago, when the state was in the grips of a sustained drought, there were growing questions about the effects of groundwater pumping on the environment. Now, in what is being called a landmark court decision in Sonoma County, local officials are being ordered to put more thought into issuing permits for new wells.
The water is running high in the Russian river for late August, not like a few years ago when there were fears it could stop flowing altogether.
"We just hope the good times keep coming," said Executive Director of Russian Riverkeeper Don McEnhill.
But rather than a solid channel for water to run through, the riverbed is really more like a sponge. McEnhill said it draws water flowing on the surface down through the sand and gravel into pools underground. That's why so many people were drilling new wells near the rivers and creeks during the drought.
"And as that's depleted, which can happen in minutes to an hour or two, it starts pulling water through the bed of the stream down to that wellhead," said McEnhill. "And, in many cases, people were turning on high-capacity wells and streams were going from a flowing stream to a dry streambed."
That can be critical in the small tributary creeks, where juvenile Coho salmon are in a desperate fight against extinction. If creeks dry up completely, partially because of over pumping, it could spell the end of the species.
"We got a lot of evidence from fisheries groups that said, you know, we watched a lot of people turn on wells and water disappeared," McEnhill said. "And then, if there was still a little water, the water quality degrades to where it's affecting fish health or killing them."
So Russian Riverkeeper and a statewide group called the California Coastkeeper Alliance teamed up to sue Sonoma County over the way it approved new well permits.
"There was no oversight whatsoever with groundwater permitting," said California Coastkeeper Executive Director Sean Bothwell. "They were really just handing them out without any analysis whatsoever, of whether groundwater was impacting surface flows in Sonoma County."
Last week, Superior Court Judge Bradford Demeo ruled that Sonoma County had failed to uphold the Public Trust Doctrine, an implied duty of officials to protect vital public resources. If the decision stands, Sonoma and other counties will have to determine the impact of wells on nearby surface water flows before granting a permit.
"I think it's a landmark case," said Bothwell. "I do think that it's eye opening and counties will look at it and, hopefully, be proactive."
"Water is water," said McEnhill. "Some of it exists below the surface of the ground and some of it exists above. But it's all connected."
It's unclear what the decision will require in practical terms. Sonoma County says it is still studying the ruling and would not comment. But it's clear that the argument that siphoning from underground has no affect on the surface simply doesn't hold water anymore.