In 2014, the Mendocino City Community Services District initiated an obscure 2007 clause in the groundwater management ordinance. This action is the only instance anywhere in California where a Special District restricted water use from private water wells without allotments determined by a Court Order.

Background

Water management in Mendocino has always been an issue and will continue to be an issue unless a municipal water system delivers a domestic water supply.

It first came to the forefront in 1985 when the County of Mendocino and the Department of Water Resources conducted a groundwater study of the Mendocino Headlands Aquifer. A two-year groundwater investigation concluded that the area west of highway 1 was an area of limited groundwater to bedrock. This study aimed to find areas with suitable water availability in terms of quantity and quality. Water-bearing areas vary widely due to a thin layer of soil over fractured rock zones that does not contain evenly distributed reliable water. The study located the town of Mendocino and the Mendocino Headlands Aquifer as a small area which underlies the historical town constructed prior to 1920. Historically, the town of Mendocino experienced water shortages during dry and average years of rainfall. The study area was confined to the known areas of concern. For hydrological purposes, the study area consisted of 350 acres west of State Route One, south of Slaughterhouse Gulch, and north and south of Big River. Eighty percent of the available water flows to the ocean off the bedrock, evaporates, and is used by plant life. Home and commercial water users require additional water from outside sources. The theory that conserving water for sharing groundwater has been called “challenging” may be just impossible with uneven distribution.

Mendocino City Community Service District is an authorized sewer plant operator. In 1990, the Mendocino County Health Department delegated groundwater oversight to administer the Mendocino Town Program regarding new uses. The delegation allowed district employees to view building permit applications for proposed projects. Issues arise because only registered professionals can study and certify findings regarding the available water volume without significant impact on existing wells and groundwater storage, but MCCSD used a water flow table that is used to determine sewer water flow. The 1985 groundwater study described the critical groundwater area as the historic old town and not the boundaries of the sewer district.

In 1979, the Mendocino Land Trust survey found that 56% of survey respondents favored a community water system, and 65% of the voters (141/217) at the November 1985 election favored MCCSD obtaining the authority to provide domestic and fire protection water to the town of Mendocino. To date, MCCSD has not received the proper authority to provide water service as lawfully required, since no facility or water processing plant was built. No water has been served to properties and private wells that have overlying water rights are property rights when put to beneficial use. Since the State Health Department determines who may be qualified to serve water which has nothing to do with groundwater management. MCCSD claims that the water codes (1987) [17000-17717] provide the authority to act as a Water Replenishment District. The issue is that according to the same water codes, MCCSD cannot interfere with “water that is already but to beneficial to conserve groundwater. Since groundwater management was authorized for “new uses” MCCSD must bring additional water to resupply a “basin which does not exist. Water studies claim the Mendocino Aquifer operates as an open aquifer. No sides and no solid bottom, just fractured rock.

Funded in part by the Clean Water Act, over $300,000 was spent to find water and design a water system. By 1996, a system was successfully designed despite Mendocino City Community Services District claiming no water was ever found. The two-year hydrological investigations by Lawrence and Assoc. substantiated that “water from the Big River gulches” could provide adequate water to meet Mendocino’s present and future needs. The future needs were based on increasing use through 2010. The estimated cost to implement the system in 1996 was $4 million. The springs, referred to as gulches and additional springs, flow directly into tidewater and would have minimal environmental concerns if utilized.

MCCSD has shelved the engineering reports and designs without public review and board action, claiming that no water was found.