The Abridged version:
- A year after it was first implemented, supervisors extended Yolo County’s agricultural well moratorium.
- The move allows the county to continue the restriction on digging new wells in certain areas for up to a year.
- Supervisors also instructed staff to move ahead with plans to require all newly built agricultural wells to have space for a meter to be installed.
Yolo County has extended its temporary ban on digging new agricultural water wells.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to keep the restriction on new wells in certain parts of the county in place for up to a year.
The decision came on the day that the temporary moratorium was set to expire.
It was first passed last August after local farmers raised concerns about over-pumping the groundwater aquifer beneath the county.
“There is certainly mounting evidence that our groundwater management needs better data to manage it sustainably,” said local farmer and public commenter Drew Rivers.
Sign Up for the Yolo County Newsletter
Stay in-the-know on all things Yolo! Weekly email with stories and insights from Yolo County reporter Daniel Hennessy.
Many of those concerns have persisted into 2026, and more than a dozen public speakers rose to support the extension.
“You are doing the good work of preventing us from making a catastrophic mistake,” said resident Mark Van Horn.
Even as they extended the moratorium, supervisors stressed the need to continue working on a detailed management plan for water in the county.
“If we just extend it without having goals or a framework then we’re just extending it to extend it,” Supervisor Angel Barajas said.
Dropping wells and subsidence
Before the moratorium was implemented, Yolo County had limited regulation of digging new wells.
But as more wells were drilled in recent years, some landowners saw the water in their own wells dropping.
“When we turn on our taps, we all want and need out water to flow,” local resident Rachael Long said at the meeting. “There’s nothing worse than turning on a faucet only to have air come out.”
In some parts of the county, including near Zamora and the Dunnigan Hills, that led to land subsidence, or sinking.
The problem was especially pronounced during drought years, especially 2020-22, when the Sacramento Valley saw rapid subsidence.
In response, the board voted last year to restrict new wells in vulnerable areas of the county, a controversial move at the time.
Now supervisors have extended it for another year, citing the need for more time to create detailed water management plans in anticipation of future droughts.
“What are we going to do when the next drought comes? Year one, we would probably get through OK. What are we going to do in year two?” said Supervisor Mary Vixie Sandy. “Every farm that loses access to water is another damaging outcome for us.”
Room for meters
Along with the decision to extend the ban on new wells, supervisors directed staff to move ahead with a requirement for newly drilled wells to be constructed in a way that would allow for the installation of meters.
“Requiring meter-ready just makes good sense for water policy going forward,” Vixie Sandy said.
The mandatory use of meters would be a change from a status quo in which groundwater rights come with land ownership and extraction is not closely tracked.
In addition to that change, supervisors expressed interest in figuring out ways to expand access to surface water in the county, as well as considering the possibility of zoning changes in the coming update to the general plan.
“I want a different future for Yolo County than in other parts of the state, particularly the San Joaquin Valley,” Supervisor Lucas Frerichs said.
