FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Don McEnhill, Executive Director, 707-217-4762, don@russianriverkeeper.org
We Won!!
COURT FINDS SONOMA COUNTY VIOLATED ITS PUBLIC TRUST and CEQA RESPONSIBILITIES AND ORDERS THE COUNTY TO PROTECT ITS WATERWAYS FROM EXCESSIVE GROUNDWATER PUMPING
It’s official! This week the Sonoma Superior Court held that Sonoma County failed to fulfill its mandatory duties under the Public Trust Doctrine and violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it adopted a Well Ordinance that was not protective of the County’s waterways and our public trust resources. The Court ordered the County to fulfill its obligations under the Public Trust Doctrine and CEQA to ensure that groundwater extraction does not harm our public trust resources, like our salmon, steelhead, and recreational opportunities.
We originally brought this challenge alongside California Coastkeeper Alliance in May 2023, following the adoption of an amended Well Ordinance by the County that was based on incomplete analysis and could not show how, or even if, any of our public trust resources would be protected from further harms caused by unrestricted groundwater pumping. As we continue to adapt to a changing climate, it is increasingly important that steps are taken to protect our limited resources from unnecessary harm and we are happy to see that our team’s efforts have helped ensure the County must take the steps necessary to protect our finite resources.
Under the Public Trust Doctrine, the County is required to consider the impacts of groundwater extraction on public trust resources and mitigate those impacts to the extent feasible. The County will now need to analyze things like cumulative impacts, evaluate and adopt measures to offset the impacts of groundwater pumping, and mitigate the significant impacts to our public trust resources caused by groundwater pumping. Importantly, the County’s analysis must be based on evidence, facts, and analysis—not assumptions and wishful thinking. Further, since the Court has deemed the Well Ordinance not to be exempt from CEQA, the County must disclose, analyze, and mitigate the Ordinance’s potential environmental impacts in an environmental document.
Our efforts are not over yet and we hope to have more updates on this important issue soon!
And finally, a big thank you to our community for all the support throughout this entire process. We couldn’t have done it without your support!