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Tulare County adopts urgency ordinance to temporarily reinstate GSA review of certain well permits
Summary
The board adopted an urgency ordinance allowing participating groundwater sustainability agencies to review agricultural, commercial, dairy and industrial well permit applications for consistency with groundwater sustainability plans; participation is voluntary and review time is set at 60 days.
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. ' The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on April 30 adopted an urgency ordinance temporarily extending the ability of participating groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to review certain groundwater well permit applications before county permitting.
Dr. Goguen of the county's Environmental Health Division briefed the board on the background: executive order EON 07-22 required GSA review of agricultural and other non-domestic well permits; later executive orders adjusted and then rescinded those requirements. Local GSAs asked the county to retain a review role after the state rescinded the mandate, prompting the urgency ordinance.
"This is going to be an elective process and voluntary participation only by our GSAs," Dr. Goguen told the board. Under the adopted urgency ordinance, participating GSAs may review ag, dairy, commercial and industrial well applications to determine whether the proposed well is consistent with the GSA's groundwater sustainability plan, is unlikely to impair nearby wells or subsidence, and is unlikely to damage nearby infrastructure.
Review parameters and exemptions: The ordinance establishes a 60-day review period for GSAs (staff corrected the ordinance text to reflect 60 days for both review and the department's action if no reply is received). Exemptions mirror previous executive orders and include domestic wells producing under two acre-feet per year, replacement wells producing equivalent quantities, monitoring wells, wells for public water systems (which remain under state water board authority), and minor alterations that do not increase discharge rates.
The board made findings required under Government Code sections cited in the ordinance and adopted the urgency order by unanimous vote (mover Supervisor Townsend; second Supervisor McCarty). The ordinance takes effect immediately and staff were directed to publish and post the full text. County staff said further meetings with GSAs and stakeholders will inform a permanent ordinance expected in 2027 or by internal procedural updates prior to that timeline.
