Merced supervisors to consider allowing dogs at Lake Yosemite, next steps on groundwater ordinance

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider allowing residents to bring dogs into Lake Yosemite Park for the next six months, in addition to setting the first reading of the county’s groundwater ordinance.

In August, supervisors voted 4-1 to allow dogs inside Lake Yosemite Park on a trial basis from Sept. 12 to Dec. 31. The Department of Public Works is requesting a six-month extension to better evaluate the impacts of the decision – and whether it should become a permanent change.

Without an extension, the trial period would have expired and dogs would be once again prohibited at the county park, said Public Works Director Dana Hertfelder.

“I didn’t feel we had enough information to recommend whether this becomes permanent or not,” Hertfelder said Friday. “Because it was our off-season, there hasn’t been a lot of activity out at the park, so we want to give it a longer evaluation period.”

Hertfelder said the feedback from park-goers the past three months has been positive, but more information is needed before he can recommend a permanent change to the supervisors.

The board will also consider setting the first reading of the county’s groundwater ordinance for Feb. 10 and a second reading for March 3. New ordinances are required to have two readings before they can be adopted. Public comments are accepted at both meetings, which begin at 10 a.m.

The county has been working on adopting an ordinance that regulates groundwater transfers through a permitting process since May. Based on feedback from a Board of Supervisors meeting last month, county staff made a few clarifications to the ordinance.

One clarification to the ordinance specifies that all “exceptions” to the permitting process – usually public water agencies, wells delivering 2 acre-feet of groundwater or less per year or groundwater recharge efforts – must be verified through an application process. An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre, 1 foot deep.

Also on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Department will ask the supervisors for authorization to apply for a $15,000 grant to support the spay-and-neuter program at Animal Control.

This story was originally published January 25, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Merced supervisors to consider allowing dogs at Lake Yosemite, next steps on groundwater ordinance."