The 2025 Annual Report is nearing final submission, with member agencies asked to submit comments within the week. A revised well impact analysis suggested limited additional domestic-well risk between minimum thresholds and 2027 interim milestones, while levels are largely stabilized above IMs. Early NDVI screening suggested no major GDE declines; analysis will be refined.
The basin showed improvement in Water Year 2025, with the critical Eastern Principal Aquifer gaining 5,000 acre-feet of storage and remaining ahead of interim milestones. Some wells still exceeded minimum thresholds, but interim milestones were not exceeded in the Eastern Principal Aquifer. Four new well applications were received, and a monitoring well installation project continues progressing through permitting.
The committee approved $77,500 for Optional Task Order 7 for EKI to revise the basin’s subsidence sustainable management criteria and related analysis, better aligning with updated state guidance. They also authorized $128,900 for Optional Task Order 9 to update the groundwater model with post‑2015 data, including refined land use, boundary conditions, and water diversion and extraction inputs.
TAC recommended two task orders totaling $206,400 to revise subsidence management criteria and update the groundwater model for more accurate basin management. Groundwater storage declined by 40,000 acre-feet in water year 2025 as pumping increased to 393,000 acre-feet during drier conditions. Current subsidence standards risk triggering non-compliance despite minimal actual subsidence, prompting the approved criteria revision.
The Technical Advisory Committees expressed support for developing a $129,000 groundwater model enhancement and directed consultants to prepare a detailed task order. The update will refresh the basin's model with current land use, evapotranspiration data, and improved boundary conditions to better show regulators that recent projects and land use changes are advancing sustainability, without redoing the approved GSP's historical findings.
