Agency is grappling with nearly $100,000 in delinquent assessments and pursuing enforcement actions through outside counsel. 87.2% of water users have submitted the required annual extraction reports; complete data are needed for accurate annual reporting. A legal dispute continues over the wellhead-based allocation system, which has left 175 acres fallow due to water rights being tied to wells on adjacent properties involved in family litigation rather than the land itself.
The board approved a new streamlined framework to handle over 150 backlogged variance requests, with 38 requests totaling 9,000+ acre-feet likely to be denied due to sustainability concerns. Water transfer processes face significant timeline constraints due to state mandates and court deadlines, limiting the agency's ability to extend transfer request deadlines even when users need end-of-year data to determine their needs. Basin optimization projects moved forward, including approval of ...
The board approved continuing a $20 per acre-foot reserve fee to fund over $1.5 million in projected legal expenses and established a new $7.25 basin assessment for Las Posas Valley optimization projects. With 17% of water users in overuse situations and 23% failing to submit required reports, board members indicated they will pursue automatic enforcement actions rather than continuing to send warnings. Annual water allocations were approved maintaining the existing operating yield...
