The groundwater basin maintains strong storage at 74.5% capacity despite minimal rainfall this year, holding approximately 60,000 acre-feet of water. The board approved $314,000 in required state compliance costs, including $225,000 for a mandatory sustainability plan evaluation and $89,000 for new monitoring wells, funded through current extraction fees. Directors are considering joining a legislative advocacy coalition for $6,000 annually that recently secured $15 million in state ...
The board discussed a significant $200,000 budget increase required for mandatory 5-year GSP update, despite the basin's stable condition with 75% capacity and balanced pumping-to-recharge ratios requiring no significant changes to plans. Members expressed frustration with costly reporting requirements that provide little value for consistently well-managed basins. The agency is pursuing legislative relief through coalition efforts to exempt small, stable basins from expensive compliance mandates.
The board addressed critically low basin water levels with no surface inflow for the first time in years, tabled a leak fee relief request due to lack of policy, and approved routine administrative matters while developing meter exemption processes.
