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Board approves Williamson Act conversion for Zacharias Ranch mitigation bank
Summary
Supervisors approved rescinding a Williamson Act contract and entering an open‑space easement to create the Zacharias Ranch tidal‑marsh mitigation bank; proponents said the site is flood‑prone and conversion would restore habitat and provide regional mitigation credits.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a request on July 22 to rescind an existing Williamson Act agricultural contract for about 580 acres near Snodgrass Slough and to accept an open‑space easement so the property can be developed as the Zacharias Ranch tidal marsh mitigation bank.
Planning staff told supervisors the site, south of Lambert Road in the Delta community, has experienced rising groundwater and recurrent flooding that have reduced its agricultural productivity. The Department of Conservation’s farmland maps, staff said, show fallowing that could cause the land to lose “prime farmland” designation if agricultural use does not resume.
Westervelt Ecological Services, which proposed the mitigation bank, described a restoration plan that would breach existing farm berms, construct channels and plant tidal marsh vegetation. Company representatives and neighboring farmers said the managed conversion would establish wetland habitat important to regional fish and wildlife corridors and to the Cosumnes‑Stone Lakes connectivity, while providing mitigation credits that can fund long‑term stewardship.
The project received the county Agricultural Advisory Committee’s recommendation for approval, subject to mitigation for the loss of farmland; the project also received a certificate of consistency from the Delta Stewardship Council on its Delta Plan review. Planning staff recommended the board find the project consistent with the General Plan and the Delta policies that prioritize conversion where agricultural productivity is lowest.
Supervisor Hulme moved approval of staff recommendations, including certifying the CEQA exemption consistent with the General Plan and entering the open‑space easement; the board approved the measures unanimously. Westervelt said the bank would be stewarded long term and that projects requiring mitigation — such as levee work — could use credits from the bank.
