§ 8.95.010. Findings and declarations.

The board finds and declares as follows:

(1)

The groundwater underlying the county has historically provided the people and lands of the county with water for agricultural, domestic, municipal and other purposes.

(2)

According to the 2014 San Luis Obispo Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, approximately fifty-seven percent of all domestic water supply needs within the county are met by the use of groundwater.

(3)

The primary industry in the county is agriculture, and the gross value of all agricultural crops produced in the county was estimated at $960,710,000 in 2013. Nearly all irrigated agricultural crops within the county are irrigated with groundwater.

(4)

According to Bulletin 118, the following twenty-two groundwater basins (or portions thereof) underlie the county: the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Basin, the Cholame Valley Groundwater Basin, the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin, the San Luis Obispo Valley Groundwater Basin, the Santa Maria River Valley Groundwater Basin, the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin, the Carrizo Plain Groundwater Basin, the San Carpoforo Valley Groundwater Basin, the Arroyo de La Cruz Valley Groundwater Basin, the San Simeon Valley Groundwater Basin, the Santa Rosa Valley Groundwater Basin, the Villa Valley Groundwater Basin, the Cayucos Valley Groundwater Basin, the Old Valley Groundwater Basin, the Toro Valley Groundwater Basin, the Morro Valley Groundwater Basin, the Chorro Valley Groundwater Basin, the Rinconada Valley Groundwater Basin, the Pozo Valley Groundwater Basin, the Huasna Valley Groundwater Basin, the Rafael Valley Groundwater Basin and the Big Spring Area Groundwater Basin.

(5)

As part of the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program, set forth in California Water Code Section 10920 et seq., the California Department of Water Resources identified a number of groundwater basins within the county as high or medium priority basins in 2014, including the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Basin, the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin, the Santa Maria River Valley Groundwater Basin, the San Luis Obispo Valley Groundwater Basin and the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin.

(6)

As part of the county's Resource Management System, set forth in Chapter 3 of the San Luis Obispo County Land Use Ordinance—Framework for Planning, the board has determined that a Level of Severity III exists for water resources within (or within portions of) the Paso Robles Valley Groundwater Basin, the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin and the Santa Maria River Valley Groundwater Basin. A Level of Severity III is the highest level of alert and occurs when resource use exceeds the capacity of the resource.

(7)

Two groundwater basins (or portions thereof) within the county, including the Santa Maria River Valley Groundwater Basin and the Los Osos Valley Groundwater Basin, have been or are in the process of being adjudicated.

(8)

According to the 2012 San Luis Obispo County Master Water Report, the county is subject to cyclical droughts, declining groundwater levels, degradation of groundwater quality and a limited availability of surface water supplies.

(9)

Areas of the county have access to limited groundwater supplies.

(10)

Areas of the county are entirely dependent on groundwater.

(11)

During dry months and extended drought conditions, some communities within the county are left with insufficient water supplies for outdoor irrigation and fire flow protection.

(12)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Governor of California, and the board have recognized the detrimental impact of drought conditions on the county. On January 15, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated twenty-seven counties in California, including the county, as primary natural disaster areas due to the recent drought, and on January 17, 2014, the Governor of California declared that a state of emergency exists in the State of California due to current drought conditions. On March 11, 2014, the board passed Resolution No. 2014-65, proclaiming that water supplies necessary to provide public and private drinking water supplies are threatened due to decreasing supplies of groundwater and other sources and that "a condition of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property" exists within the entire county due to drought conditions.

(13)

The groundwater of the county will be a vital part of future water use in the county. According to the 2011 San Luis Obispo County 2040 Population, Housing & Employment Forecast, the population of the county is projected to increase approximately twenty percent between 2010 and 2040, under the medium-growth scenario.

(14)

The board recognizes the principle developed in the case law of California that water may be appropriated from a groundwater basin if the groundwater basin is in a surplus condition and such appropriation would not impair the reasonable and beneficial use of overlying users.

(15)

California courts have recognized and upheld the authority of counties, through their police powers, to regulate the use of groundwater.

(16)

In the statewide groundwater legislation approved by the governor on September 16, 2014, commonly referred to as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the State Legislature declared its intent to recognize and preserve the authority of counties to manage groundwater pursuant to their police powers.

(17)

The export of groundwater could have significant environmental impacts on groundwater resources within the county, including but not limited to (increased) lowering of groundwater levels; uncontrolled movement of contaminated groundwater; uncontrolled movement of inferior quality groundwater; (increased) seawater intrusion and land subsidence.

(18)

Based on the foregoing facts, it is essential for the protection of the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the county, and the public benefit of the state, that immediate action be taken to ensure that the groundwater resources of the county be protected from harm resulting from the exportation of groundwater.

(19)

This chapter requires a permit for the export of groundwater and is not intended to regulate groundwater in any other way.

(20)

In adopting and codifying this chapter, the board does not intend to limit other authorized means of managing the county's groundwater and intends to work with other affected local agencies to develop groundwater sustainability plans to implement prudent water management practices within the groundwater basins within the county.

(Ord. No. 3295, § 1, 4-14-15)