Drought task force can expand

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors received an update on local drought conditions from the drought task force Tuesday and authorized the group to expand its membership to local tribes, community services districts and state agencies “as needed.”

The task force, which meets weekly, was created to explore and develop both short- and longterm actions to address local impacts from drought. Ryan Derby, the county’s emergency services manager, said local conditions have only worsened since the task force’s last update to the board on July 21.

“We’ve observed some conditions of drought that have proven to be substantial and harmful, both to human health and the natural environment,”

Derby said, noting that the U.S. Drought Monitor upgraded coastal Humboldt County to a severe rating and expanded the extreme drought intensity rating throughout the entire interior of the county.

Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services Environmental Health director Melissa Martel said her department received several reports of harmful algal blooms in local rivers causing illness in both dogs and humans. The blooms occur in warm, still water and have only been exacerbated by drying conditions.

“Harmful algal blooms are caused by certain types of cyanobacteria,” she said. “These bacteria feed off of sunlight, similar to plants. There are thousands of different types of cyanobacteria, many are harmless but some create toxins that are poisonous to people and animals. … The only way to tell if an algal bloom is toxic is through laboratory testing, that’s why we recommend that people and animals avoid the water and shorelines where there is visible algal growth.”

Martel urged community members to report the location of harmful algal blooms to her department or to the State Water Resources Control Board.

Humboldt County Planning and Building director John Ford said the task force is working to develop a better regulatory scheme for permitting wells.

The first phase is to address pending well permits that are already in process and to ensure concerns related to existing wells are adequately addressed, Ford said. The second phase will be a short-term study of all existing permitted wells and where they’re drawing from. The long-term final phase will be a series of studies to answer the questions that are raised as part of the second phase.

“It is complicated in Humboldt County given the various different types of groundwater that exist. We have undertaken discussions with the hydrogeologist to help us start to address that,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is a bit of an iterative process. It’s going to be information and factually driven. … It is very much a work in progress, we anticipate having a scope to work on the first few phases within the next week.”

Derby raised the issue of unlawful water diversions from illegal cannabis grows and adverse impacts to threatened species.

“The investigation (by the sheriff’s office) found that in the Redwood Creek, Steelhead/powers Creek, Salmon Creek and Roach/tulley Creek watersheds, water flow is being impacted due to illegal cannabis cultivation,” Derby said. “These watersheds are home to protected species such as coho and Chinook salmon, as well as steelhead trout, all of which are faced with tremendous habitat challenges due to drought conditions.”

“This is a particularly difficult issue to tackle as it is difficult to enforce,” he added.

Returning to the subject of well permitting, 2nd District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked Ford whether domestic and agricultural wells would be lumped together.

“At this point, we have not made any distinction between those,” he said. “We have talked about not distinguishing and not focusing on one group at the expense of the others but it really will depend on where the information takes us, what the facts show in terms of how different wells should be addressed. Ag wells should all be treated as ag wells, domestic wells should be treated as domestic wells.”

Bushnell also asked how many well permits the county is currently processing.

County Environmental Health specialist Mario Kalson said the county has a backlog of approximately 30 to 40 permits. Bushnell asked if such a backlog was common.

“No,” he said. “I think that is an artifact of what the legislative environment has produced. In August of 2020, there was really a precedent-setting court case where the Supreme Court … decision that said well permits are subject to (the California Environmental Quality Act) and that’s really slowed our review down.”

Kalson noted that domestic wells “are largely easier to permit” in comparison to agricultural wells.

Bushnell asked if agricultural and domestic wells would be treated differently throughout the task force’s analysis.

“Right now we’re looking at wells in aggregate and then we will see where the facts lead us,” Ford said. “If the decision is to require a permitting regime for domestic wells, those would have a set of criteria that would be used to approve those wells and ag wells would have a different set of criteria.”

Bushnell urged the task force to refrain from targeting “certain entities or industries.”

“I want to recognize that when you do curtailment for agricultural cannabis and you’re not doing curtailment for any other agricultural commodity, I think we need to look at that and we need to look at the fairness of that,” Bushnell said. “Although it states it in the county ordinance that agriculture is agricultural, I know some people don’t agree it’s all the same but when it comes to water use it is all the same.”

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson asked if the county could impose “something less than a moratorium” on well permitting “but maybe something more than the status quo.”

Ford reiterated that is part of the task force’s first phase in evaluating pending permit applications.

“If we’re going to permit new wells and they’re going to get dug this year, that allows people to understand that in order to use the well during the dry season next year they need to forbear,” he said. “If that’s advantageous, that gives them the opportunity to put in storage this winter.”

The board also discussed whether or not the task force should be able to expand its membership “as needed.”

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone expressed support for the idea and made a motion to move forward.

Bushnell offered a second and quickly rescinded her motion noting the importance of the task force “getting information and reports from outside sources” but said, “I don’t think it’s necessary to add more people to the task force.”

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn said he could “go either way” but underscored the importance of being “as nimble as possible” during an evolving emergency situation.

“I’d much rather go to a meeting with five people than 10 people, that means the meeting’s going to be half as long and you’re going be more productive,” Bohn said, noting that he expressed support for staff’s recommendation to move to expand “as needed.”

The board ultimately approved the staff’s recommendation in a 4-0 vote, with 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass absent from the drought discussion.

“Iwantto recognize that when you do curtailment for agricultural cannabis and you’re not doing curtailment for any other agricultural commodity, I think we need to look at that and we need to look at the fairness of that.” — Michelle Bushnell, 2nd District supervisor