The board directed staff to add an opt-in seller list and revise the exchange policy to allow prior-year trades through mid-February, and to agendize a penalty fee tier review. The board voted to defer a carryover policy until adjudication is implemented. Staff reported four wells below minimum thresholds and one in a warning zone, and the board gave consensus direction to begin adaptive management follow-up.
The board approved a groundwater extraction fee of $6 per acre foot for FY 2026-2027 and adopted a single reserve fund policy set at 20% of the annual budget. Growers should anticipate fees rising significantly in coming years as grant funding is exhausted. In public comment and correspondence, stakeholders urged the Board to consider staying CMA allocation enforcement pending adjudication and said the water exchange program is not functioning; no Board action was taken on those requests.
The board approved a ~$1.5M FY 2026-27 budget, cutting ~$650K from the draft by deferring most model-improvement studies. The board also approved its formal response to DWR's GSP review, stating nitrate and arsenic conditions will be reviewed annually in annual reports and mitigation evaluated if conditions change. Staff were directed to begin early-stage assessments (Steps 1–3) of two properties showing significant pumping increases outside the Central Management Area.
Staff summarized DWR’s additional information request on the GSP and said draft responses will return May 6 for Board approval. Staff also presented an initial review of potential outside‑CMA pumping and groundwater‑level changes; the analysis is incomplete pending county well‑permit/land‑use data and additional pumping reports.
The Board elected new leadership with Steve Jackson as Chair after three new Cuyama Basin Water District directors joined. A geophysical study showed the Santa Barbara Canyon fault is a complex zone with multiple faults tied to large groundwater elevation differences. The Board approved having the FY 2026‑27 budget process consider a $160,000–$280,000 Ventucopa model recalibration after staff outlined current model limitations.
