Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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Staff discussed a potential 2027 shift from ET-based accounting to gross applied water, with an allocation around 0.82 AF/acre and a hard cap TBD. Staff reviewed the State Water Board's phased interim plan (Phase 1 near the Friant-Kern Canal; Phase 2 basinwide) and noted Phase 2 limits could be very low. Growers were urged to seek reconsideration of State invoices if banked/imported water was reported and to request a stay.
Staff reported progress on reopening the canyon tunnel, with the engineering team leading active work on both portals. Terra Park drainage talks with MUSD and the City of Manteca are advanced and may reach the board within the next one or two meetings ahead of rainy season. The board adopted the encroachment policy (Res. 26-27-Y) and amended it to allow earth removal within district easements by permit rather than an outright ban.
The board approved roughly $40,000 for a demand management options analysis and $7,500 toward a subsidence investigation on the authority's western boundary. Staff reported ongoing difficulty securing landowner cooperation needed to fill groundwater monitoring data gaps, with a drilling deadline approaching year-end if volunteers are not identified. Board members were asked to help connect staff with willing landowners in target areas.
Staff reported that the state's Tule interim plan could impose a two-mile pumping moratorium along the Friant-Kern Canal by April 2027, and staff noted the framework could be analogized to the Tulare Lake Subbasin's subsidence issues. A court ruling may allow probation billing to proceed for some GSAs; the state also pushed back on the well mitigation plan and DWR called the subsidence approach too reactive.
The board voted to withdraw from IWPC and send a letter stating intent to rejoin through the Ukiah Valley Water Authority. Staff reported water sold last month was up 85% year-over-year due to extreme heat; some leaks were found and customers notified. IWPC/Sonoma Water updates discussed NERF diversions and Coyote Dam modernization as long-term efforts.
