Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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Staff shared updated geology and water quality analyses for the Forebay and Upper Valley subbasins, finding no statistically significant link between pumping and evaluated water-quality constituents (including nitrate and gross alpha). AEM surveys refined subsurface mapping; no immediate management changes were proposed. Draft GSP amendments are planned for early August Board review and a 90-day comment period, with staff discussing a return around November.
Groundwater depth averaged about one foot lower year-over-year, and Kings River runoff is 52% of average. The board discussed July rate-setting tied to the budget and recharge-basin buildout pace. GEI's canal capacity study should have initial data by July, and land acquisition/project work continues.
The board adopted the 2025–2030 Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan, projecting water supply reliability through at least 2045 with potential shortages of up to 8–10% during the worst year of a multi-year drought through 2040. The board approved the FY 2026–27 amended budget, which assumes 5% rate increases in FY27 and FY28 and notes SFPUC wholesale rates rising 7.4% per year; a detailed rate discussion is scheduled for July 30, 2026.
The board approved the FY 2026/27 budget, setting SGMA compliance landowner fees at $0.16/acre (base) and $1.27/acre (irrigated). A proposed cover crop policy change that would grant growers additional Effective Precipitation credits was deferred to a committee for further review before returning as an action item in July. Staff reported that groundwater accounting platform updates are in progress, though OpenET data carries a several-week lag.
The board directed analysis of GSA's legal authority/options to impose an interim moratorium on new deep aquifer wells and/or caps/limits on extractions, with a report back within 90 days, responding to a roughly 12-fold increase in agricultural pumping since 2009. A brackish groundwater restoration feasibility study was approved for federal submission to preserve funding eligibility, CEQA review was paused. A motion to accept the jointly prepared Deep Aquifers Management Memorandum failed.
