1. The board approved 2027 groundwater credits with no transitional allocation. The GSA board unanimously approved 0.15 AF/acre in native safe yield, 0.77 AF/acre in precipitation credit (up from 0.76), and 0.95 AF/acre in district-allocated credit (down from 0.96). The total remains 1.87 AF/acre, with transitional credits at zero for a second year. Staff cited continuing lower-aquifer subsidence, including about a tenth of a foot from April to July 2026 in SMMZ 36. Staff said roughly 70–80% of wells, particularly toward the district’s western edge, draw from the lower aquifer. The board separately approved an allocation resolution containing CEQA exemption findings.
2. Draft subsidence and recharge policies are planned for December review—not a December vote on the subsidence order. Staff outlined a proposed subsidence-management order, also called the CSMO, that would target a transition from consumption-based accounting to pumped-water accounting on October 1, 2027. Evapotranspiration (ET) could still serve as a measurement tool. Other proposed elements include a tentative January 1, 2027 target for restricting new deep lower-aquifer wells and consideration of future upper- and lower-aquifer pumping caps. Aquifer boundaries, whether the well restriction could begin by January 1, possible health-and-safety or livestock exceptions, and treatment of return flows remain unresolved. Staff also plans to bring a draft recharge policy in December. The proposed order would require 45 days’ notice before possible adoption in January or February.
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