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Commissioners want groundwater/hydrology data added to tentative-map requirements
Summary
Commissioners urged including soils, geologic and hydrologic reports at the tentative map stage and using GSA/LWA mapping to verify water availability before final map approval, so rezoning and subdivisions can be assessed earlier.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether groundwater-availability mapping from GSAs and consultants (LWA) should be incorporated into the subdivision/tentative map process to prevent approving projects that lack water.
Committee member (S3) suggested adding hydrologic and hydrology requirements explicitly: "Make it soils, geologic, and hydrologic reports... add hydrologist along with engineer geologist or hydrologist to prepare it." The group discussed using overlapping maps and GSA data to verify whether a parcel has sufficient water and whether that finding should support rezoning or approval conditions.
Staff and commissioners debated timing: having data at the tentative map stage helps the commission make findings about water sufficiency early, but they also noted GSAs' mapping and restrictions apply differently to agricultural pumping than to development. The commission directed staff to craft proposed language requiring appropriate hydrologic documentation at the tentative map stage and to coordinate with GSAs and the flood-control district on incorporating mapping outputs.
