Chapter 43
GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT
Sections:
43-3. Administrative review of groundwater transfer within the county.
43-4. Permit required for groundwater transfer outside of county.
43-5. Exclusions from groundwater transfer permit requirements.
43-6. Administrative structure.
43-7. Application for a permit.
43-8. Procedures for processing.
43-9. Public hearing concerning issuance of permit.
43-10. Findings required for permit approval or denial by the commission.
43-11. Conditions of permit approval.
43-12. Refiling after commission denial.
43-13. Appeal of commission action on application.
43-14. Challenge to approved permit.
43-1 Findings and purpose.
(a) It is the long-standing policy of the county of Colusa to conserve and encourage agricultural operations within the county. The county general plan establishes the preservation and promotion of agriculture in its various forms as being the highest priority goal in the county planning process. Other legislative acts of the county board of supervisors, including but not limited to the adoption of the “right to farm” ordinance, are further evidence of the existing policy.
(b) It is essential for the protection of the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the county and the public benefit of the state, that county groundwater resources be protected from harm resulting from the extraction of groundwater for use on lands outside the county and its groundwater basins unless and until such time as needed additional surface water supplies are obtained for use on county lands and over-development of groundwater resources is addressed to the satisfaction of the board.
(c) Much of the county farm production depends upon the use of groundwater to produce field crops, nut and fruit crops, vegetable crops, seed crops, livestock and products which significantly contribute to the gross value of all agricultural crops produced in the county. Colusa County’s estimated crop value was more than nine hundred million dollars in 2013.
(d) The groundwater basins in Colusa County also provide drinking, domestic and commercial water to several communities in the county, particularly to the cities of Colusa and Williams.
(e) In adopting and amending this groundwater management ordinance, the county does not intend to limit other authorized means of managing county groundwater and intends to work cooperatively with interested local agencies, groundwater users, and county residents to further develop and implement groundwater management programs.
(f) Export of groundwater from the county, and use of groundwater in lieu of surface water transferred from existing uses in the county, results in the need for additional water supplies for use in the county.
(g) Existing agricultural operations in the county rely on healthy and sustainable groundwater conditions in the county to support the economic production of agricultural commodities.
(h) Economic factors, diminishing water resources, the export of water outside the county or the groundwater basin areas through groundwater substitution, and at times drought, have caused an accelerated rate of well construction, groundwater development and use within the county. These circumstances concern and alarm the board, as it has been demonstrated in many areas of the state that the unmanaged and over-development of groundwater has resulted in undesirable results and negative impacts on groundwater resources. These negative impacts include, but are not limited to: (1) lowering of water tables leading to increased well lifts and energy consumption, the deepening of existing wells, and drilling of new wells with attendant additional costs; (2) reduction of aquifer transmissivity; (3) land surface subsidence and damage to public works, infrastructure and private property; (4) permanent reduction of aquifer storage capacity; and (5) water quality degradation.
(i) The over-development of groundwater results in the drying up of surface and subsurface flowing steams, the drying of wetland areas and the loss of percolating waters. These conditions cause the loss of critical riparian and wetland habitat. Similarly, the unregulated extraction of groundwater to serve as a substitute for surface water transfers out of the county, or outside the groundwater basins underlying the county, has similar effects and more severely impacts county groundwater resources due to the loss of deep percolation of applied waters that would normally assist in the replenishment of groundwater resources.
(j) On occasion projects have been proposed for the extraction and exportation of groundwater from the county and its underlying groundwater basins to locations outside the county, or outside the basins. These proposals may involve the acquisition of rights to small parcels of land, the development of wells and appropriative groundwater rights upon such land of a size and capacity far exceeding that reasonably necessary for any beneficial use of the land overlying the groundwater basins within the county. The board is concerned that this practice could result in over-development and unsustainable groundwater pumping within the county and development of rights to export groundwater from the county permanently or on a long-term basis, resulting in adverse environmental and economic impacts to county groundwater supplies.
(k) Water Code Section 1810(d) requires the county to consider and where appropriate to condition the use of a water conveyance facility to transfer surface water, or groundwater from the county, to ensure that the transfer will not result in injury to legal users of water in the county, and to ensure that the transfer will not unreasonably affect fish, wildlife, other in-stream beneficial uses, the overall economy, or the environment of the county.
(l) Transfers of groundwater from the county, or outside the groundwater basin areas, whether direct, by groundwater substitution, or any other method, could affect the overall economy or the environment of the county.
(m) It is the purpose and intent of this chapter to establish an effective county policy concerning groundwater transfers, whether direct, by groundwater substitution, or any other means, to assure the overall economy and environment of Colusa County is protected.
(n) The county seeks to foster prudent water management practices to avoid significant adverse environmental, social, and economic impacts. It is therefore essential for the long-term protection of the county’s important groundwater resources that the county require a permit for any groundwater transfer purpose, whether direct or by groundwater substitution, for use outside of the county, or outside of the county’s underlying groundwater basin areas. This chapter requires a permit for the extraction of groundwater for any transfer purposes outside the county and is not intended to regulate groundwater in any other way.
(o) The public health, safety and general welfare of the people of the county depend upon the continued availability and sustainability of the county’s groundwater resources, and the county has an obligation to ensure the sustainable yield of the county’s groundwater basins, considering both the short-term and long-term effects of groundwater extraction, including the recovery of groundwater basins through natural as well as artificial recharge.
(p) Surface water supplies in the county are used and managed conjunctively with groundwater supplies, and groundwater use is increased during dry periods when surface water is not readily available or reduced. In this regard, the greatest readily and economically available asset the county has in dealing with its water needs is its groundwater. Loss of groundwater and groundwater storage results in additional surface water needs. It is vital that the groundwater resources be protected so that its capacity will be available for future conjunctive use.
(q) The board of supervisors appointed a Colusa groundwater committee on March 19, 1996, to study and coordinate the available protections for groundwater supplies in conjunction with historic surface flows in Colusa County. The committee held public meetings on a regular basis to gather data, disburse information and to review data related to water resources in the county. The committee reviewed groundwater policy, demands on groundwater supplies, and research of existing groundwater management plans over a period of one year. Input was sought from state, local and federal officials.
(r) Following lengthy research, the county groundwater committee concluded that there was a need to identify and protect the underlying groundwater resources of Colusa County. The committee noted that factors contributing to this conclusion were the overall population growth of the state and the lack of new water storage facilities built to supply that increase in population. This, the committee concluded, has resulted in the current pressure on northern California’s groundwater supply. This pressure, the committee found, required protection from the social and economic impacts which could be caused by a depleted local groundwater supply. That protection was identified by the committee as being of paramount concern.
(s) In adopting and amending this chapter, the county does not intend to limit either the county’s authority, or the authority of other public entities, to manage groundwater in the county pursuant to other applicable laws, consistent with the county’s sustainable groundwater management policies. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part).)
43-2 Definitions.
(a) “Aquifer” means a geologic formation that stores, transmits and yields significant quantities of water to wells and springs.
(b) “Board” means the board of supervisors of Colusa County.
(c) “Commission” means the Colusa County groundwater commission.
(d) “Conjunctive use” means the planned joint use of surface and groundwater. It relies upon the principle that by using surface water when it is plentiful, recharging the aquifer and conserving groundwater supplies in wet years, water will then be available for future pumping in dry years when surface supplies are short.
(e) “County” means the county of Colusa.
(f) “Groundwater” means all water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water which has been determined by a court or the State Water Resources Control Board to be part of a subterranean stream flowing in known and definite channels, as that term is understood under Water Code Section 1200.
(g) “Groundwater transfer” means, for the purpose of this chapter, the direct pumping and transfer of groundwater from an existing place of use to another place of use, or the substitution of new or additional groundwater pumping to replace surface water transferred from an existing place of use to another place of use.
(h) “Hydraulic gradient” means the slope of the water table.
(i) “Hydrology” means the origin, distribution, and circulation of water through precipitation, stream flow, infiltration, groundwater storage and evaporation.
(j) “Local agency” means any local public agency.
(k) “Percolation” means the movement of water through the soil to the groundwater table.
(l) “Permeability” means the capability of the soil or another geologic formation to transmit water.
(m) “Piezometric surface” means the surface to which the water in a confined aquifer will rise.
(n) “Porosity” means voids or open spaces in alluvium and rocks that can be filled with water.
(o) “Recharge” means the augmentation of groundwater in storage from precipitation, irrigation, infiltration from streams, spreading basins and other means.
(p) “Sustainable yield” means the maximum quantity of water calculated over a base period representative of long-term conditions in the basin and including any temporary surplus, that can be withdrawn annually from a groundwater supply without causing an undesirable result.
(q) “Specific capacity” means the volume of water pumped from a well in gallons per minute per foot of draw down.
(r) “Spreading water” means discharging native or imported water to a permeable area for the purpose of allowing it to percolate to the zone of saturation.
(s) “Transmissivity” means the rate of flow of water through an aquifer.
(t) “Usable storage capacity” means the quantity of groundwater of acceptable quality that can be safely and economically stored and subsequently withdrawn from groundwater basin storage, without causing undesirable results.
(u) “Water table” means the surface or level where groundwater is encountered in an unconfined aquifer.
(v) “Water year” means the year beginning with October 1st and ending the last day of the following September.
(w) “Zone of saturation” means the area below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with groundwater. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part).)
43-3 Administrative review of groundwater transfer within the county.
(a) It is essential for information gathering and monitoring purposes to have a process for administrative review of the extraction of groundwater for any transfer purposes within the county.
(b) All parties participating in a groundwater transfer for use within the county are required to notify the Colusa County groundwater commission and execute the Colusa County in-county groundwater transfer agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, the transferring party will:
(1) Provide the commission, through appropriate county staff, with an executed in county groundwater transfer agreement, prior to commencement of the proposed transfer;
(2) Provide the commission, through appropriate county staff, with a copy of the final transfer proposal, prior to commencement of the proposed transfer;
(3) Provide the commission, through appropriate county staff, with all monitoring data and other information at the same time such information is reported to the California Department of Water Resources and/or the United States Bureau of Reclamation pursuant to any such reporting requirements of the Department or Bureau;
(4) Provide the commission, through appropriate county staff, with the final transfer report, within thirty days of completion of the transfer.
(c) The water resources staff of the county community development department shall make the form of the documents required under this section available. All documentation and reporting requirements shall be in substantially the same form as provided. (Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part); Ord. No. 790, § 24.)
43-4 Permit required for groundwater transfer outside of county.
It shall be unlawful to extract groundwater underlying lands in Colusa for any groundwater transfer use outside county boundaries, without first obtaining a permit as provided herein. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-3.)
43-5 Exclusions from groundwater transfer permit requirements.
This chapter shall not apply to groundwater transfers in the following circumstances:
(a) For use within the boundaries of a local agency which is in part located within Colusa County and in part in another county(ies), where such extraction rates, quantities and use are consistent with the historical practice of the local agency; and provided further, the local agency has adopted a groundwater management plan which is consistent with the Colusa County groundwater management plan that is then in effect.
(b) For use on lands outside Colusa County which are contiguous and in the same ownership to lands within Colusa County from which the groundwater is extracted, where such extraction rates, quantities and use are consistent with the historical practices of the landowner.
(c) The person or entity asserting that one of the exclusions in this section applies shall provide substantial evidence to support the exclusion, as determined by the commission.
(d) Upon application properly filed with the commission, the commission may grant a revocable exemption to this chapter to persons or entities which have complied with all of the following:
(1) Adopted a groundwater management plan pursuant to Water Code Section 10750 et seq. that has been approved by the commission.
(2) Instituted a groundwater monitoring and mitigation program associated with its extraction of groundwater which has been approved by the commission.
(3) Executed an agreement with the county to provide groundwater monitoring information and data, to coordinate efforts with the county to monitor groundwater resources in the county, and to participate in the county’s efforts to implement sustainable groundwater management planning.
(e) The exemptions of this category shall be reviewed annually by the commission which may recommend that the board consider further amendments to this chapter extending, amending or revoking the exemptions. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-4.)
43-6 Administrative structure.
The water resources staff is part of the community development department staff and is responsible for coordinating water-related activities, including sustainable groundwater planning. A groundwater commission has been appointed by the board, through selection from applications submitted to the board from interested parties, for the purpose of serving on the groundwater commission. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part): Ord. No. 790, § 25. Formerly 43-5.)
43-7 Application for a permit.
An application for a permit shall be filed with the commission and shall contain all information required by the commission. Concurrent with the filing of a permit application, the applicant shall enter into an agreement with the county for the preparation of and payment for any required environmental review that may be required by the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”; Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.). The application for a permit and preparation of environmental review documentation shall be accompanied by any fees established from time to time by the board. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-6.)
43-8 Procedures for processing.
(a) Within ten calendar days of filing the permit application and the deposit of required fees, the commission shall deliver notice to the Colusa department of agriculture that an application has been filed. The commission shall send a copy of the notice, and the application, to all local agencies located within Colusa County which have lands overlying or adjacent to the location of the proposed extraction, and to any interested party who has made written request to the commission for such notice within the last twelve months, seeking written comments. The commission shall review the application to determine whether it is complete for purposes of the permit required under this chapter and for processing under applicable Colusa County guidelines adopted pursuant to CEQA. Upon determining that the permit application and CEQA review agreement are complete, and all fees paid by the applicant, the county shall thereafter commence environmental review as may be appropriate.
(b) In any year in which any of the following circumstances exist, any permit application shall include detailed technical studies documenting the potential impact of the groundwater transfer over five-, ten- and twenty-year planning horizons:
(1) A critically dry year under the Department of Water Resources Sacramento Valley Water Index;
(2) An emergency drought declaration by the county of Colusa;
(3) An emergency drought declaration by the Governor of the State of California or any state agency eligible to make such declaration; or
(4) A zero water allocation in the Sacramento Valley or anywhere upstream of the legal Delta by the State Water Project or the Central Valley Project.
(c) The commission shall coordinate review of the application with all potentially affected county departments, with the staff of appropriate state and federal agencies, and with appropriate local agencies in the county that may be affected by the application. If the applicant is applying to extract groundwater from within the boundaries of a local agency or in an unincorporated area included within the boundaries of a sustainable groundwater management plan, the commission shall consider any relevant information in applicable groundwater management plans or that may be provided by the local agency in which the groundwater transfer is proposed. Any interested person or agency may provide comments relevant to the groundwater transfer. Comments shall be submitted to the commission not later than thirty days after the date of mailing the notice of filing of the permit application.
(d) All appropriate environmental review of the groundwater transfer permit application shall be undertaken in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and county guidelines for implementation. All costs of the environmental review shall be the responsibility of the applicant.
(e) Upon completion of the environmental review, the commission shall immediately set a public hearing on the permit application, which shall be noticed pursuant to Government Code Section 6061. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-7.)
43-9 Public hearing concerning issuance of permit.
(a) Formal rules of evidence shall not apply in the commission’s public review proceeding for the application, but the commission may establish such rules as will enable the full and expeditious presentation of the application and receipt of relevant information thereto.
(b) The commission shall hear the application in accordance with the provisions for public hearing in Colusa County.
(c) During the commission’s public review, the applicant shall have the burden of establishing all facts necessary for the commission to make the required findings under this chapter. The commission shall allow relevant information and evidence presented by any interested persons or entities, but may prescribe reasonable limitations on the presentation of such information and evidence.
(d) The commission shall approve, deny or conditionally approve the application within time periods consistent with California Public Resources Code Section 21151.5(a) as follows:
(1) One year for those permit applications requiring an environmental impact report.
(2) One hundred eighty days for those permit applications requiring an adopted negative declaration.
(e) The scope of the conditions extends to any relevant matter that may be considered by the commission including, but not limited to, the effect that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer including, but not limited to, potential hydraulic gradient, hydrology, percolation, permeability, piezometric surface, porosity, recharge, annual yield, specific capacity, spreading waters, transmissivity, usable storage capacity, water table, water quality, and zones of saturation impacts, each of the findings of the commission, any appropriate conditions proposed to be imposed, and any mitigation measures to reduce adverse effects.
(f) The commission may request any additional information it deems is reasonably necessary for its consideration of the application. The cost of developing, preparing and providing such additional information shall be borne by the applicant. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-8.)
43-10 Findings required for permit approval or denial by the commission.
(a) The application for a groundwater transfer permit may be approved and recommended for approval only upon findings of a majority of the membership of the commission present at the required public meeting, and a majority of the total membership of the commission, that the proposed groundwater extraction will not have significant adverse impacts on the affected groundwater basin, and specifically that:
(1) The proposed extraction will not cause or increase any undesirable effects in the groundwater basins underlying the county;
(2) The proposed extraction will not adversely affect the long-term storage capacity or transmissivity of the groundwater basins underlying the county;
(3) The proposed extraction will not cause the groundwater basins underlying the county to exceed their sustainable yield and will not otherwise injure or unreasonably impact other beneficial uses of the groundwater within the county;
(4) The proposed extraction will not result in an injury or adverse impact to a water replenishment, storage, or restoration project currently operating in accordance with statutory authorization;
(5) The proposed extraction is in compliance with Water Code Section 1220;
(6) The proposed extraction will not be otherwise detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the county or property owners overlying groundwater basins within the county in the vicinity of the proposed extraction site(s); and
(7) The proposed extraction will not cause adverse impacts to water quality conditions in the groundwater basins underlying the county, or result in compactions, subsidence or other undesirable results in the groundwater basins underlying the county.
(b) If the commission determines that it cannot make one or more of the findings required by this section, upon consideration of the entire record, it shall deny the permit application. The basis for any such denial recommendation shall be made in writing and documented in the commission’s official record of proceedings.
(c) The applicant shall be notified in writing of the commission’s recommendation on the application within fifteen days of the final commission action on the application. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-9.)
43-11 Conditions of permit approval.
(a) If the application for groundwater transfer permit is approved, the commission shall incorporate appropriate conditions of permit issuance so as to prohibit over-development of groundwater resources or other undesirable conditions, and may impose other conditions that it deems necessary to maintain the health, safety and welfare of Colusa County residents. Such other conditions of permit issuance may include, but shall not be limited to, requirements for monitoring and/or reporting groundwater conditions in relation to the proposed permit. The commission may issue a groundwater transfer permit, despite potentially undesirable results from the permit application, if the commission incorporates and requires adequate mitigation to offset adverse effects and/or undesirable conditions that otherwise could result from the proposed application.
(1) Mitigation measures imposed by the commission need not be permanent or static during the permit period and may be adjusted by the commission should the applicant make a substantial showing and the commission makes a resulting finding that changes in any mitigation measures are warranted.
(b) Any approved groundwater transfer permit shall be conditioned upon execution of a Colusa County out-of-county groundwater transfer agreement, which shall include the following provisions:
(1) The commission receives a copy of the full final transfer proposal;
(2) The commission receives all monitoring data associated with the transfer, including data from before, during and after the groundwater transfer, including all available groundwater elevation data;
(3) The commission receives the final transfer report; and
(4) The transferring party executes the Colusa County mitigation plan in substantially the same form as provided by the water resources staff. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part); Ord. No. 790, § 26. Formerly 43-10.)
43-12 Refiling after commission denial.
A permit application that has been denied by the commission may not be refiled until the water year following the denial. For any such refiling to be reviewed in accordance with this chapter, it must be accompanied by information demonstrating a significant change in circumstances or factual basis from the previous permit application that was denied. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-11.)
43-13 Appeal of commission action on application.
(a) The applicant or any aggrieved party may appeal a decision and recommendation of the commission by filing a written request with the clerk of the board within fifteen days of issuance of the commission’s decision and recommendation. Any such appeal shall specifically set forth all bases for appeal, procedural and substantive, to be complete and effective. The clerk shall set a hearing before the board within ten days of receipt of a complete appeal, and the appeal shall be heard within twenty days of notice thereof. Written notice of the appeal shall be provided to the commission, the permit applicant, the appellant, and all other interested parties. Notice of the appeal hearing shall be published pursuant to Government Code Section 6061.
(b) The board shall hear the appeal as to those disputed matters set forth in the appeal request, if presented to the commission, but may continue such hearing as determined appropriate by the board. The appeal before the board shall be conducted under such rules as set by the board for the expeditious presentation of the permit application decision of the commission appealed from. The decision of the board shall be final.
(c) In any appeal taken under this section, the permit applicant who is proposing a groundwater transfer outside of the county shall have the burden of establishing that such groundwater transfer is either excluded from permit requirements of this chapter, or will not significantly adversely affect the groundwater basins in the county under the criteria set forth herein. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-12.)
43-14 Challenge to approved permit.
(a) Any interested party may challenge an approved permit during the term of the permit if one or more of the following circumstances exists:
(1) There has been or is a violation of one or more conditions of an approved permit; or
(2) The groundwater transfer has caused or contributed to an increased and unanticipated adverse effect to groundwater conditions in the basins underlying the county; has unexpectedly adversely affected the long-term storage or transmissivity of groundwater conditions in the groundwater basins underlying the county; exceeds the anticipated effects on the groundwater basins underlying the county; causes injury or unreasonable impacts to beneficial uses of the groundwater basins in the county; is in violation of Water Code Section 1220; or negatively impacts any water replenishment, storage, or restoration project operating in accordance with statutory authorization; or
(3) The continued extraction of groundwater pursuant to the approved groundwater transfer permit will be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the county, one or more affected local agencies, or other interested parties.
(b) A challenge pursuant to this section shall be commenced by filing a written petition with the commission on a form prescribed by the commission. Any such challenge shall be based on one or more of the bases specified by this section, and shall generally describe facts in support of the bases for challenge. The commission shall, within ten days of receipt of any such challenge in a completed form, give notice of the challenge to the groundwater transfer permittee, the party challenging the permit, affected local agencies, and any other interested party that has requested such notice. The commission shall conduct a hearing on the challenge pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter for approval and recommendations on a permit application. The commission may deny the challenge and leave the previously issued permit unchanged, grant the challenge and terminate the permit, or grant the challenge and impose modified or additional conditions in the permit, based on findings and criteria specified in this chapter for permit approval and recommendations.
(c) The standard of review of any decision by the commission on a challenge to a permit under this section shall be substantial evidence. The burden of proof shall be upon the person or entity challenging the permit.
(d) Appeals from commission decisions on challenges may be made to the board in accordance with the procedures of this chapter. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-13.)
43-15 Permit term.
Except as otherwise approved by the board pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, applications for groundwater transfer permits shall be for a term not to exceed one water year from the date of the issuance of the permit. However, if the permit is for extraction as part of a conjunctive use program that has been approved previously by the county, the permit shall not exceed the length of the term of that program. For the purpose of calculation, the water year in which the permit is granted shall not be counted in determining the one-year time period if less than four months remain in the water year at the time of final permit approval. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-14.)
43-16 Limitation of permit.
Nothing in this chapter or in any groundwater transfer permit issued pursuant hereto shall be construed as granting the permittee a right to extract groundwater, nor shall such approval be construed to establish a compensable right to groundwater or groundwater extraction in the event the permit is subsequently terminated or modified based on a challenge to the permit. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part). Formerly 43-15.)
43-17 Violations.
The county may elect to proceed with any or all of the following remedies for violation of this chapter:
(a) A civil action against the violator, including injunctive relief.
(b) A civil fine of up to five thousand dollars for each separate violation of any term or condition of any groundwater transfer permit issued pursuant to this chapter. A person or entity shall be deemed to have committed a separate violation for each and every day or portion thereof during which any such violation is committed, continued, or permitted as well as for each and every separate groundwater well within which any such violations committed, continued or permitted.
(c) A misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars per each violation of this chapter or any term or condition of any groundwater transfer permit issued pursuant to this chapter, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months for each violation, or both. Each and every day shall be a separate violation. (Ord. No. 615, (part): Ord. No. 770, § 1 (Exh. A) (part).)