By a 4–3 vote, the board continued work on pumping credit Ordinance 2026-01 and set a November 5 workshop. The pumping-credit management action remains suspended until the five-year GSP evaluation is submitted or an ordinance is adopted. Members sought more modeling but approved no new modeling assignment or GSP amendment. Dudek reported below-average preliminary rainfall, four years of production below sustainable yield, and stable shallow-well levels in San Timoteo.
A groundwater storage credit policy remains in development after agencies agreed to break a broad draft resolution into smaller, topic-specific policies—nothing was adopted. Before any policy is finalized, technical staff will stress-test the basin model using drought scenarios to evaluate pumping impacts. Private well outreach will continue; a possible private-user workshop and a potential participation threshold (e.g., 25 acre-feet/year) were discussed but not finalized.
Groundwater levels are rising significantly across the basin despite below-normal rainfall, indicating strong recovery due to reduced pumping and previous wet years. The board approved a new pumping credits policy that eliminates time limits and sets volume-based caps at four times users' sustainable allocations, moving to a "water bucket" system for greater drought management flexibility. Staff will intensify outreach to private well owners next year to develop required inventory and...
The groundwater management agency is developing a simplified "water bucket" reserve policy to replace the current pumping credit system, allowing water users to build up reserves when pumping below their sustainable allocation without expiration dates. Private well users pumping more than 25 acre-feet annually may be eligible to participate in this program with proper metering and reporting requirements. The reserve policy would be suspended during drought-triggered management actions...
The groundwater management agency advisory is going to recommend transitioning from time-based pumping credits to a volume-based "bucket" system that caps credit accumulation at 5 times an entity's sustainable yield allocation. Credits can only be earned through actual water conservation efforts like importing supplemental water or reducing usage below allocated amounts, ensuring they represent real water savings rather than unused allocations. Historical data analysis revealed the basin naturally maintained sustainability over 50+ years without regulations, with pumping fluctuating dramatically during droughts before returning to equilibrium during wet periods.
