Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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Consultants released Chapters 4 and 5 of Unified Water Plan for review, detailing environmental enhancement projects requiring 500,000 acre-feet annually and cataloging over 800 water supply projects, with comments due December 5. Board approved issuing membership contribution letters in December rather than February. A large stakeholder meeting is planned for late February 2026 to present the draft unified water plan and new watershed studies, building on the successful October meeting.
The basin previewed a new quarterly groundwater trend monitoring approach using simplified visual reports tracking 8 key wells, intended to make it easier to understand trends. The Q3 2025 monitoring showed overall basin stability. The well metering ordinance implementation continues, with the April 1, 2026 meter reading start date approaching, while enforcement procedures are being developed for the small percentage of delinquent well registrations.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors recently voted 3-2 to support the current plan to remove PG&E dams at Potter Valley and transition to purchasing water from the Round Valley Indian Tribe, and the Millview board received an update on that process, including that costs are expected to increase and pumping would likely be limited to November–April. The meter replacement project is progressing well. A comprehensive rate study will be presented at the December 4th Water Authority meeting.
The groundwater allocation program framework presented at the workshop was substantially revised from the July draft to recognize irrigation districts' developed water supply, resulting in significantly higher developed supply credits for MID and OID. Non-District East is shown in the example allocation as having a base allocation equal to about 35% of historical pumping, but temporary relief through OID's surplus redistribution in Phase 1 would raise that to about 47% of historical use .
The Board was updated on the draft Allocation Policy proposing 1.43 acre-feet per acre sustainable yield with 45-day public comment through December 1st, though neighboring agencies have criticized the methodology. A comprehensive Subsidence Policy was adopted with tiered enforcement triggers and pumping restrictions based on subsidence thresholds. Staff presented a timeline to submit the revised GSP by March 2026, ahead of the state deadline, to request fee exclusion from the Water Board.
