Mendocino County opens month-long public comment on draft Drought Resilience Plan

Mendocino County’s General Government Committee on March 1 received a presentation and opened a public comment period on the county’s draft Drought Resilience Plan, a document prepared to meet requirements of Senate Bill 552 and to address impacts to domestic wells and state small water systems.

Deputy Director Amber Fisette of the Department of Transportation and Water Agency said the county has “just finished wrapping up the draft drought resilience plan,” and that the draft was posted for a one‑month public review period running through April 25. Consultant Amir Amani of EKI Environment & Water, Inc., presented an overview of outreach, plan structure and next steps.

The plan — developed following the Department of Water Resources guidebook for SB 552 implementation — focuses on data collection and vulnerability assessment, short‑ and long‑term management actions, and an implementation framework tied to drought stages. County staff described a broad outreach campaign over the past year that included community workshops, task force meetings, coordination with the UC Cooperative Extension, targeted meetings with rural assistance groups, and a government‑to‑government consultation with a Pomo tribe.

County staff emphasized public engagement as central to finalizing the plan. Fisette said the county posted the draft and a comment form on a dedicated DRP web page and published fact sheets and presentations in English and Spanish. Amani described two ways to comment: a short online form and a downloadable Word review table for line‑level edits; mailed or hand‑delivered hard copies are also accepted. Amani said the county will collect comments, respond in an appendix to the plan and present a finalized plan and a recommending resolution to the Board of Supervisors at a May meeting.

During public comment, members of the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council and other residents told the committee they had not received sufficient outreach in some communities and noted technical accessibility problems with the online comment form. Patricia Riz, a Redwood Valley MAC member, told the committee the MAC had not been contacted and asked the county to include the MAC in follow‑up outreach. Frances Owen, a Redwood Valley resident, said she had trouble reading and locating the comment form and reported prior issues with public comments appearing to vanish from the county’s public portal.

Fisette and Amani responded that the web form had just gone live and that staff had enlarged the actual online form (the presentation slide contained a reduced image). The presenters said the county maintains a public DRP web page with an email sign‑up, educational materials, links to prior workshop slides and a list of potential state and federal funding opportunities to help domestic well users and small water systems.

The committee did not take formal action on the draft at the meeting. Staff will gather comments submitted by April 25, prepare responses for an appendix to the plan and bring a final plan and recommending resolution to the Board of Supervisors for consideration in May.

The presentation, outreach materials and the draft plan are posted on the Mendocino County Drought Resilience Plan web page; the county asks commenters to use the online form where possible. Staff encouraged people with accessibility needs to request assistance via the contact information on the web page.

Background: SB 552 requires counties to establish and maintain a drought task force and to prepare drought resilience plans addressing impacts to domestic wells and state small water systems. Mendocino County staff said the county followed the Department of Water Resources guidebook in structuring the plan and held task force and workshop meetings during plan development.

Next steps: public comment through April 25; staff to compile and respond to comments in an appendix; presentation of a final plan and recommended adoption resolution to the Board of Supervisors at a May meeting.