MCCSD

Community Conservation

2021 has the makings of another major drought year.

With just 51% of normal rainfall last year, groundwater management and conservation are more important than ever. In 2020 the Mendocino City Community Services District re-adopted their Groundwater Management program which included the Groundwater Shortage Contingency Plan, Groundwater Extraction Permit Ordinance 2020-01, and GWSCP Ordinance 2020-02. To address concerns raised by a few community members the MCCSD Board formed a Groundwater Management Advisory Committee. This committee consists of 7-11 community and Board members. Each Board member at that time was provided the opportunity to appoint two interested community members to the committee. The intention of this committee is to review the Groundwater Management Program (specifically the GWEP Ordinance, the WSCP, and WSCP Ordinance).

The Committee was designed to hear the concerns of those in the community who might object to the current program, propose changes, discuss ideas, in short, anything that might make the Groundwater Management Program better for our District. How can we protect more wells; how can we promote more growth; how can we help those that want to farm and require more access to water; how can we reduce costs; how can we better manage and protect this shared resource? The Committee has been meeting since August of 2020. Generally, the first Tuesday of the month at 4:00 PM via Zoom. Agendas and log in information are posted on the MCCSD.com webpage.

Each month the District Superintendent asks for ideas, encourages committee members to talk with their neighbors, friends, business owners, and other stakeholders. They are encouraged to invite people to participate. We want to hear the concerns with the current program and ideas or proposals to make things better for the District as a whole. The Committee has so far discussed:

• ways to try and reduce costs associated with Hydrological Studies.
• benefits and concerns with multiple parcels sharing a common well.
• creating community storage systems, like ponds, cisterns, and neighborhood storage tanks; changes in use permits that possibly trigger a hydrological study.
• use of graduate students and university programs to potentially lower the costs of studies.
• allowing for increased water extraction during the winter to save for the dryer summer months.
• Hydrology and Geology of MCCSD to increase a basic scientific understanding of how water flows through the District.
• discussion on rainwater catchment systems.
• Increasing individual storage, pros and cons.
• discussions of out of compliance District members, and ways to bring them into compliance.
• discussion on the history of the District.
• the idea of a community water system.
• the failed search for sustainable water source back in the 1990s.
• the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) adopted by the State Legislature in 2014.

As fewer topics for discussion are being initiated, the committee to getting ready to wrap up, and make some final recommendations to the MCCSD Board of Directors. Now is the time, we want to hear from you. Those with an interest in the Groundwater Management Programs of MCCSD, concerns, appreciation, ideas for improvement, are invited to share with this group. All of these committee meetings are open to the public. You can e-mail topics for discussion ahead of time. We welcome your ideas and participation.

Ryan Rhoades
District Superintendent

Who We Are

The Mendocino City Community Services District (MCCSD) is an independent Special District of the State of California, responsible for the protection and management of the water resources within the District.

What We Do

•  Wastewater Treatment
•  Groundwater Management
•  Street Lighting

The primary goals of MCCSD are to efficiently treat the community's wastewater and effectively manage its groundwater resource. These goals have been accomplished through the operation of a tertiary level treatment plant and the development of a Groundwater Management Plan, which was designed to protect the town's aquifers from overdraft.

For Mendocino over the last few months.

Depth to water shows how the groundwater levels change seasonally over past years to date. We have 24 wells that are monitored monthly. The graph points are the average of the monthly readings.