Well moratorium

Zamora farmer whose wells went dry urged a yes vote to extend the moratorium, citing subsidence and new corporate wells in her area.

Hungry Hollow domestic well owner compared groundwater overdraft to a budget deficit and asked for a one-year extension to develop solutions.

Retired physician and Cache Creek farm owner urged keeping the moratorium and asked that habitat become the top reclamation goal in the Cache Creek Area Plan.

Warned against repeating San Joaquin Valley overdraft mistakes and urged extension of the moratorium as a needed, if blunt, tool.

UC Davis Small Farmer Water Justice Clinic attorney thanked the Board and urged adoption of option two, the full focus-area extension.

Former UC Davis Student Farm director urged extending the full moratorium for one more year.

Spoke on behalf of farmer Annie Main and herself, a 42-year Capay Valley farmer, urging extension of the moratorium to protect groundwater.

Capay Valley small farmer urged extension and better communication with confused farmers about what the moratorium does and does not restrict.

Resident between Davis and Winters reported neighbors drilling new wells and urged support for Capay Valley farmers.

Rancher who hosted a Board tour pushed back on the moratorium, arguing good and bad actors exist at all farm sizes, reservoirs are full, and the moratorium hurts property values.

Criticized YSGA's approval of Cobra wells and conjunctive use practices, urging an extended moratorium and demand controls.

Ranch landowner urged a one-year extension with exemptions, citing the working group's majority support.

Opposed narrowing the focus area for lack of technical basis and urged the final one-year extension to build a permanent regulatory framework.

Noted her letter was on the agenda and questioned whether other written commenters had been read into the record.

A 19-acre Esparto farmer supported extending the moratorium one more year despite his own need for an ag well, asking for a hardship allowance for small farmers.

UC Davis water resources professor urged a full one-year extension across the entire focus area, citing overdraft, subsidence, and drought risks.

Davis resident asked the Board to extend the moratorium on behalf of family farmers.

A UC Davis Water Justice Clinic law clerk argued the county could legally narrow the moratorium to AX-zoned parcels where perennial crop conversions drive water demand.

The clinic's director rebutted county counsel's characterization of their memo and proposed a conditional use permit for perennials on AX land and stricter enforcement of well permit conditions.

A UC Davis professor showed declining well hydrographs and urged the Board to keep the moratorium until groundwater levels stabilize.

A soil and water scientist supported a one-year extension, citing monitoring data gaps and asking for baseline monitoring wells before lifting the moratorium.

Asked the Board to keep the moratorium and to audit the Cobram well conjunctive-use arrangement with the Yolo Flood Control District.

A west-of-Woodland farmer described her wells dropping and going dry in drought, urging the Board not to lift the moratorium.

A West Plainfield small farmer said ten neighbors have replaced wells and implored the Board to extend the moratorium before the next drought.

A Hungry Hollow farmer of 40 years asked the Board not to discard the collaborative groundwater work already underway.

A former engineer at Luhdorff & Scalmanini explained the compounding 6,000 acre-foot Hungry Hollow overdraft and asked for a one-year extension.

Advocated for extension of the moratorium as the only current effective tool against overdraft in the focus areas.

A Winters farmer pushed back hard, saying the room's moratorium supporters don't represent most farmers and urging the Board to follow staff and let it expire.

A longtime farm operator and irrigation supplier opposed continuing the moratorium but favored meter-ready design over mandatory meters.

A West Plainfield farmer said meters now make no sense without data collection, and that economics and SGMA — not moratoriums — will manage groundwater.

A focus-area landowner and farm manager warned of a potential class-action lawsuit over property rights and argued allocation, not moratorium, is the fix.

Urged the Board not to end the well moratorium, saying key issues remain unaddressed, and asked that John Fawcett's presentation reach the Board before any decision.

Thanked the Board for the moratorium and asked them to extend it, citing a 6,800 acre-foot annual groundwater deficit in Hungry Hollow.

A Hungry Hollow farmer supported requiring meters on new wells, extending the moratorium, and urged the county to seriously consider land-use tools, warning that unmitigated pumping is already jeopardizing wells.

Criticized decades of unplanned well development in Hungry Hollow, cited a YSGA-estimated 6,000 acre-foot annual deficit, and raised concerns about four Cobram company wells approved a year and a half ago that he said should never have been approved.