Water allocation remains at 0.80 acre-feet per acre, with a possible increase to 0.85 if the full URF water is allocated out by the river restoration program. Lower Tule releases (~400 cfs) begin Saturday; PID plans to run river water heavily and go off Bryant as much as possible for about a month. The 2026 water rate was approved at $205 per acre-foot following a public hearing; no written protests were received, and one verbal comment was recorded.
Committee reached consensus to recommend a September 1, 2026 target for BasinSafe well registration and discussed possible penalties for non-compliance. Staff will take the Tule Subbasin GSP cost-share MOU to the Board; PID's share is about $47,000 or up to $53,282 if Delano-Earlimart opts out. The Board may start a 45-day notice/protest extraction-fee process as early as this month, with billing potentially beginning August 2026.
Subbasin staff reported a coordinated single-GSP budget of ~$1.4M basin-wide through 2026, with PIDGSA's share ~$46,850 (potentially higher if not all GSAs participate). A fallow program is being explored, and staff will monitor allocation compliance now that 2026 allocations are posted in BasinSAFE. Low well registration is prompting staff to pull state records; a registration deadline will be discussed with stakeholders.
Staff reviewed WY 2026 cost-recovery scenarios for a $680,413 GSA operating budget, presenting equivalent extraction-fee framings—$50.03/AF on the 1.01 AF/acre allocation, $333/AF on the 0.15 AF/acre safe yield, or $185/AF on the 0.27 AF/acre pump methodology—all recovering the same total (equivalent to ~$50.03/acre if expressed as a land-based assessment); no formal recommendation was made. GEARS had a manual-entry bug; the state backed off May 1 penalties with no new date announced.
GEARS reporting is due May 1 (fees $300/well + $20/AF; 25% late penalty). Staff relayed that if you have an irrigation well and a domestic well on the same property, both must be reported. Stakeholders discussed (based on a webinar) how recharge credits may be treated in reporting, and the April 21 exclusion-denial hearing was discussed.
