For years, Capay Valley farmer Annie Main has tracked groundwater levels in her community, quietly documenting how much water has disappeared under her neighbors’ land. Her efforts gained recognition when she was named Farm Advocate of the Year for co‑founding Good Humus Farm and leading a campaign on groundwater protection.
Main and local residents used their data and persistent advocacy at public meetings to push Yolo County to temporarily halt new agricultural wells in parts of the rural landscape. The decision shows how farmers’ observations can influence local policy amid worsening water shortages.
CAFF honors hands‑on advocacy
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers tapped Main as its 2026 Farm Advocate of the Year, crediting her with rallying neighbors to systematically document groundwater declines and helping secure a temporary moratorium on new agricultural wells, according to Community Alliance with Family Farmers. The group described her work as a model of “ground‑truthing,” with farmers collecting real‑world measurements where official models left blind spots. By spotlighting Main’s efforts, CAFF is tying day‑to‑day farm stewardship to a larger fight over how water is measured and managed in the local subbasin, and who gets a say when the numbers do not match what people are seeing in their own wells.
A short moratorium becomes a pause for analysis
Residents and local growers pressed Yolo County supervisors to pass an initial 45‑day moratorium on new agricultural well permits, a move that cracked open the door to a deeper technical review, according to Davis Vanguard. County staff and the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency pointed to data gaps in several Focus Areas, places with thin monitoring and uncertain groundwater behavior, as a key reason to slow approvals while the science catches up.
The pause also gave officials room to set up a stakeholder working group and float potential rules, including requirements to verify pumping capacity and possible hardship exemptions, so the county could refine its well‑permitting playbook instead of rubber‑stamping new applications.
Neighbors logged real losses
Main says she launched a neighborhood groundwater‑monitoring effort in 2023 and that the well at Good Humus Farm has dropped by roughly 100 feet since 1989. In her area, neighbors report about 20 landowners have run into serious well or pump problems, with around five replacing wells entirely and about a dozen lowering pumps, fixes that can run into the thousands of dollars. Those homegrown measurements and personal accounts helped build the evidence county officials reviewed as they weighed the moratorium, according to reporting by the Sacramento Bee.
What the pause actually does
The temporary moratorium was extended so county staff, the YSGA and the stakeholder working group could gather more monitoring data and consider adjustments to the well‑permitting process, according to Community Alliance with Family Farmers. One key move was a replacement‑well exemption, aimed at letting property owners fix failing wells without getting tangled in the broader pause. Officials say the extra time is meant to strengthen the data sets and technical analyses that would support any longer‑term groundwater rules, rather than locking in policy on shaky information.
What’s next for Main and the county
Supervisor Lucas Frerichs nominated Main for the award after she repeatedly brought neighborhood data and testimony to board meetings. Main called the recognition “quite a surprise,” saying it reflects a community‑wide effort to safeguard long‑standing groundwater use.
County staff and the YSGA still have to turn the short‑term monitoring push into a durable groundwater sustainability plan that keeps both farm operations and household taps running. Main says she plans to keep pressing for open data and strong local involvement as the county and regional agency use this pause to shape future well‑permitting standards, as reported by the Sacramento Bee.
