Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—on the road, on your tractor, or at home.
Board meeting focused on legal challenges affecting all landowners, strong progress on the meter rebate program, and next steps for the water bank project. Key updates included a clean financial audit, continued federal funding, and renewed commitments to public coordination with James Irrigation District.
The advisory committee reviewed progress toward returning to DWR oversight, recommended a reduced water allocation for 2026, and advanced the well registration program with incentives. Additional discussions covered injection well pilots, well inventory expansion, and subsidence monitoring updates.
The committee reviewed multiple groundwater monitoring platform options and recommended a domestic well mitigation fee structure that would be significantly offset by growing penalty revenue collections. Penalty collections increased from $55,000 to $427,000 year-over-year, providing substantial relief for the proposed mitigation fees.
Board meeting covering groundwater use fee implementation, LandIQ data system updates, and budget approval for fiscal year 2025-26. Significant discussion on grower concerns about data delays and fee structure.
The Water Board proposed a new graduated SGMA fee structure that would lower costs for most small and mid-sized farmers while increasing rates for large users. Key concerns included potential loopholes for large operators to avoid fees, use of budget reserves, and the fairness of layering new fees on top of existing GSA costs.
