“
“The Mark West Creek watershed’s streamflow impairment is the result of many
factors, including the watershed’s Mediterranean climate, increasing demand for
water over time, hydrologic modification due to agricultural and rural
development, and the effects of climate change and prolonged drought. These
factors have resulted in insufficient summer baseflows, lack of high quality pool
habitat, lack of winter refugia, and stream temperature which have been identified
as limiting factors for steelhead trout (threatened) and Coho salmon (endangered)
throughout the watershed.”
Failure to exclude cannabis operations will further threaten the recovery of the
watershed.“
A watershed community dedicated to preserving, protecting, and restoring the Mark West Creek and its watershed as a natural and community
resource.
Friends of the Mark West Watershed
Saint Helena Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Email: info@markwestwatershed.org
Tel: 707-538-5307
www.markwestwatershed.org
Date: July 13, 2018
To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
RE: Amendments to the Cannabis Ordinance, BOS August 7 Meeting
Request for Cannabis Exclusion Combining Districts
Dear Board of Supervisors,
The Friends of the Mark West Watershed (FMWW) is a community of neighbors,
landowners, and supporters dedicated to preserving, protecting, and restoring the Mark
West Creek and its watershed as a natural and community resource. FMWW is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to engage the community in hands-on
ecologically-based stewardship projects and educational opportunities. FMWW also
collaborates with several other non-profit and governmental agencies invested in the
ecological health and sustainability of the Mark West Watershed.
This letter is to request that the Board of Supervisors approve the cannabis
ordinance language allowing for the creation of exclusion combining districts and
then immediately move to create an exclusion district for the Mark West
Watershed.
The Mark West Watershed is a crucial component of government efforts to restore
Coho salmon populations in the Russian River watershed. Significant public funds have
been expended for studies and restoration projects for the Mark West Watershed.
Mark West Creek has been identified as a high priority stream for preservation and
restoration by numerous federal, state, and local agencies including:
● National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National
Marine Fisheries Service
● California Department of Fish and Wildlife
● Wildlife Conservation Board
● State Water Resources Control Board
● Sonoma County Water Agency
● Sonoma Resource Conservation District
The Mark West Watershed is a significant area for conservation and protection because
of its high water quality, extensive in-stream and riparian habitat, and endangered
species.
A typical assessment of the current condition of the Mark West Watershed is reflected in
the Wildlife Conservation Board’s staff analysis contained in its Streamflow
Enhancement Meeting Agenda (Item #7, Flow Availability Analysis for Mark West Creek
Funding Request, March 9, 2017), which describes the challenges facing the
watershed:
“The Mark West Creek watershed’s streamflow impairment is the result of many
factors, including the watershed’s Mediterranean climate, increasing demand for
water over time, hydrologic modification due to agricultural and rural
development, and the effects of climate change and prolonged drought. These
factors have resulted in insufficient summer baseflows, lack of high quality pool
habitat, lack of winter refugia, and stream temperature which have been identified
as limiting factors for steelhead trout (threatened) and Coho salmon (endangered)
throughout the watershed.”
Failure to exclude cannabis operations will further threaten the recovery of the
watershed.
Additionally, the area has been a high-priority region for conservation easements and
public lands acquisition by both the Sonoma Land Trust (SLT) and Sonoma County
Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (SCAPOSD). These lands include the
SCAPOSD’s Cresta, McCullough, Rancho Mark West, and Saddle Mountain properties
and the SLT’s Nefertierra and Rock Fall Woods. The Mark West Watershed also
contains portions of Bothe-Napa Valley State Park and Pepperwood Preserve.
Furthermore, SCAPOSD has chosen Upper Mark West Creek for a proposed riparian
easement pilot program, recognizing the largely intact riparian area as high priority for
both fish and wildlife and human needs.
In 2015, as a part of the Governor’s Water Action Plan, the California Department
of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board identified Mark
West Creek as one of five high priority stream systems statewide to support
critical anadromous fish, based on detailed studies that the creek was deemed
restorable.
The Upper Mark West Watershed was also selected as a keystone watershed for the
Sonoma Resource Conservation District Russian River Creek Stewardship and
Volunteer Monitoring Program in 1999. The watershed was selected by a multi-agency
Technical Advisory Committee due to the significant aquatic resources and the relative
interest, awareness and stewardship ethic shown by landowners and residents to
restore and protect the watershed.
The Friends of the Mark West Watershed does not believe that the current
ordinance and amendments sufficiently ensure that cannabis operations will not
impact streamflow nor the ecological health of the Mark West Watershed.
Allowing cannabis operations to apply for either ministerial or conditional use
permits on an individual basis does not allow for their impacts to be included in
an overall assessment of cumulative stressors on the watershed.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that the County determine
that its approval of this ordinance and its amendments will not have a significant
adverse impact on the environmental resources of the Mark West Watershed. The Staff
report presented recently to the Planning Commission contends that the Initial Study
and Negative Declaration for the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance adopted in 2016
analyzed potential impacts to the environment of the Mark West Watershed and
discussed how Ordinance standards would ensure any impacts would be less than
significant.
This is simply not true. The Negative Declaration and its supporting record does
not contain adequate baseline data, evaluation of the consequences of yet
unknown cannabis projects on the watershed’s environmental resources, nor
proposals for mitigations capable of reducing those yet to be known impacts to a
less than significant level.
There are no data and, in fact, have been no adequate surveys of archaeological sites,
rare and endangered species, wildlife corridors, vegetative communities, springs and
wetlands, and other characteristics, all of which are subject to substantial impact and
that cannot be adequately evaluated on an individual, project by project basis.
Consideration of these impacts on a cumulative basis is essential and required by law.
The County has in its 1978 Franz Valley Area Plan and its General Plan identified the
Mark West Watershed as an area whose environmental resources are to be protected
as mitigation for environmental impacts resulting from the development of and loss of
such resources in other parts of Sonoma County. Without adequate evaluation of the
cumulative environmental impacts resulting from the adoption of the Ordinance on the
environmental resources of the Mark West Watershed, these policy requirements
cannot be fulfilled.
This is especially true of watershed hydrology. Staff contends that the Initial Study and
Negative Declaration adopted for the ordinance analyzed potential impacts to hydrology
and water quality and discussed how Ordinance standards would ensure any impacts
were less than significant. As stated in the recent staff report to the Planning
Commission, this is to be ensured by applicants providing a project site specific
hydro-geologic report prepared by a qualified professional providing supporting data
and analysis and certifying that the onsite groundwater supply is adequate to meet
the proposed uses and cumulative projected land uses in the area on a sustained basis.
No such site specific report could possibly accomplish the mitigation asserted. There is
no existing geologic mapping or subsurface data to determine the extent of influence on
any individual well, let alone the cumulative impact of an unknown projected number of
future cannabis operations yet to be proposed and established in the watershed.
This is simply not possible without first undertaking detailed geologic study and mapping
of the area and conducting multiple year streamflow and groundwater level monitoring
and constructing a hydrology model for the entire watershed.
Without such watershed hydrology work, it cannot be demonstrated that the
ordinance as proposed will not result in significant adverse effects on Mark West
Creek and in particular to the Coho salmon and other endangered species that it
now supports.
Creating an exclusion district for the entire Mark West Watershed is necessary to
protect this sensitive area from damage before it is too late. Already this watershed is
stressed due to the Tubbs fire, years of drought, and the explosive increase in illegal
cannabis operations during the last few years. The County has a duty both to create an
exclusion zone and to enforce its own laws and stop the illegal activity that is adversely
affecting this watershed.
In addition to the Mark West Watershed exclusion district, the County should require a
conditional use permit for all sizes of cultivation operations within non-industrial zones,
wherever they are proposed in the county. The public has the right to be notified of all
permit applications and thus given an opportunity to engage in the process of
determining the impact of these commercial operations and their use of public trust
resources for private profit.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We appreciate your consideration
of our point of view. The Friends of the Mark West Watershed has worked with federal,
state and local agencies for many years to promote the protection and restoration of our
watershed for future generations. Adoption of the cannabis ordinance as proposed
threatens to reverse these critical efforts.
Sincerely,
Harriet Buckwalter Linda Sartor
FMWW Co-Chair FMWW Co-Chair
Cc: Sonoma County Planning Commission
Permit Sonoma
Sonoma County Agriculture Commissioner
Sonoma County Economic Development Board
Sonoma County Cannabis Advisory Group
Sonoma Resource Conservation District
Sonoma County Water Agency
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Wildlife Conservation Board
State Water Resources Control Board
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA
California State Senator Mike McGuire
California State Assemblyman Jim Wood
Congressman Mike Thompson
Congressman Jared Huffman
Sonoma County Agricultural Preserve and Open Space District
Sonoma Land Trust
Sonoma County Regional Parks
California State Parks, Bay Area District
Pepperwood Preserve
LandPaths