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Home My WebLink AboutEmail from Cathy Raevsky - Exploratory Wells Brief Report Menchaca, Clarissa From: Raevsky, Cathy Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 2:23 PM To: Lambert, Steve; Teeter, Doug; Connelly, Bill; Kirk, Maureen;Wahl, Larry Cc: McCracken, Shari; Clerk of the Board Subject: Exploratory Wells Brief Attachments: Staff Report for March 2018-Mar013 Final.docx In response to some questions from members of the Board of Supervisors, we, have put together some exploratory well data into a brief report.The concern that exploratory wells were being used for purposes other than that for which they were intended appears to be, borne out by the data.The land use departments have been working on how to improve enforcement and this report brought to light a lot of challenges and unanswered questions.The land use departments plan to continue to work together to address these challenges for improving enforcement. Cathy Raevsky Public Health Director BUTTE COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH 202 Mira Loma Drive I Oroville, CA 95965 T: 530.538-7750 1 F: 530.538-2164 Nationally Accredited 09113117 FACEBOOK I TWITTER COUNTY OF BUTTE E-MAIL DISCLAIMM This e-mail and any attachment thereto may contain private,confidential,and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient.Any review,copying,or distribution of this e-mail(or any attachments thereto)by other than the County of Butte or the intended reciphent is strictly prohibited.If you are NOT the intended reclpient,please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copies of this e-mail and any attachments thereto. Public Health Administration Cathy A. Raevsky, Director 1, Andy Miller, M.D., Health Officer 9202 Mira Lama Drive T: 530.538.7581 I buttecounty.netlpublichealth Oroville, California 95965 F: 530.538.2164 MEMO`RADSM DATE. March 1 , 2018 TO: Board of Supervisors FROM: Cathy Raevsky, Director of Public Health RE: Analysis of Exploratory Wells Introduction Butte County Code, Chapter 23B-5e provides requirements regarding exploratory wells and was most recently amended by the Board on April 22, 2014. A number of comments from the public have been made during Board of Supervisors meetings that exploratory wells are allowing parcels to be used for purposes in violation of County Code, such as illegal cannabis grows, illegal camping, and illegal structures. Based on questions from some Board Members, the Interim Chief Administrative Officer requested that the Public Health Department provide a report on the current status of exploratory wells for discussion with the Board. Definition: An exploratory well is a domestic water well that is capped and required to remain undeveloped (no pump, pressure tank, or electrical service) until the parcel is approved for development. The purpose of an exploratory well is to facilitate the determination of whether a parcel can be developed by having its own water source on site. History: The use of exploratory wells began in the early 2000s to allow developers and potential purchasers of land to verify the presence of an adequate supply of groundwater prior to making significant investments in their projects or purchases, or before the completion of a "parcel review," performed by the Public Works and Development Services Departments to, verify that the subject parcel was created in conformance with the Subdivision Map Act and Butte County Code. Due to concerns of potential confusion regarding the nature of rights conferred through an exploratory well permit, the Board of Supervisors approved a "Non-Development (Exploratory) Water Well Permit Disclaimer/Acknowledgement" form on April 12, 2005. The form was required to be signed by the owner of the property on which an exploratory well would be constructed as certification that they acknowledged: • The exploratory well permit did not constitute the issuance of a permit or grant of approval for development. • The County had made no legal lot determination. The County had not reviewed all conditions prohibiting or restricting further development of the property. On April 22, 2014, the Board of Supervisors removed the clause from the "Non-Development (Exploratory) Water Well Permit Disclaimer/Acknowledgement" form that allowed exploratory wells to be used for irrigation purposes due to numerous code enforcement complaints and actions indicating that exploratory wells were being used to support illegal activity, The Board also significantly increased the fines for violating the provisions of the ordinance. Analysis Staff analyzed data on exploratory well permits issued from 2013 through 2017. The key findings are as follows: ® 22 of the 285 permitted wells were converted to a "final" status. These are the wells that were legally converted to a domestic water well after a legal lot determination was made through the parcel review process. 0 120 of the 285 exploratory wells had a code enforcement violation on the parcel, such as illegal cannabis or camping violations. 120 M Permits Finaled a Permits Requiring Site Visit 100 Permits Associated With Code Cases 80 Z D 0 U 60 cc cc W on- 40 20 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 YEAR ISSUED Figure 1. Exploratory well permits issued by year from 2013-2017. The counts are reflective of permit status as of February 2018. For the remaining parcels, determining the status of the well required a site visit, which staff did for the 33 permits issued in 2014 that had not been converted to "final" status or already had a code enforcement case filed. A map of the parcel locations where exploratory well permits were issued in 2014 as well as a map of those parcels that required site visits are included as Attachments 1 and 2. Of the 33 parcels: 2 5 had observable installed pumps and wiring, and the wells were pumping water. 10 had locked gates and/or no trespassing signs, but a review of satellite imagery indicated evidence of use of water and a cannabis grow. • 4 had no identifiable access onto the property. • 13 had locked gates and/or no trespassing signs,but satellite imagery was inconclusive. • 1 was erroneously coded as exploratory. It was a legal lot with permitted buildings and should have been coded as just a regular production well permit. There were no problems with the well construction. In summary, the concern that exploratory wells were being used for purposes other than that for which they were intended appears to be borne out by the data. Discussions between land use departments on how to improve enforcement brought to light a lot of challenges and unanswered questions. 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