The board adopted the district's draft GSP with an annual pumping cap staff said is well above current use. Staff said the canal will ramp down in late October and shut off Nov. 1; the district expects stored water to cover the outage and a transition to the new canal if operations resume early. Deliveries are 200+ acre-feet below typical, tied to reduced sawmill and pistachio demand, though staff called the shortfall manageable.
Staff said they were told a subsidence management plan is needed by December or the state could impose a pumping moratorium along the subsidence corridor. Porterville and Saucelito discussed recharge/banking policy updates. M&I deliveries were the lowest in ~15 years; the annual estimate dropped from 1,500 to 1,350, with ~7,500–7,700 AF remaining to reach the Nov. 1 shutdown.
Water deliveries are near full capacity with almost 4,000 acre-feet scheduled for July, and a final 10,400 acre-feet transfer to Lower Tule will occur in July. Golden mussels were discussed; speakers said they have not been detected this far north yet, but staff noted uncertainty. Staff said the district agreed to a Nov. 1 canal shutoff date and expects to be on the new canal when deliveries resume at the end of January.
A hard shutdown begins November 1 to support Terra Bella's tie-in to the new canal, with completion targeted by end of January and deliveries resuming around February; staff said to plan on operating with wells during the shutdown. The board approved Stop Alarm monitoring for multiple pump stations after a third copper theft at Station 6 resulting in ~$54,000 in losses, and staff reviewed a Station 1 transformer failure tied to overloading, with pad-mount replacements planned this winter.
Terra Bella plans a Nov. 1 shutdown for the new canal tie-in and expects to be back online by Feb. 1. The Bureau confirmed TBID will stay at 100% Class 1 this year. Millerton is ~28,000 AF from spilling; any spill would be URF/non-storable and not expected to affect TBID. Lower Tule named a new manager; staff will monitor the exchange arrangement.
