Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
Proud Partners of
Board approved an agreement with Itron to advance the AMI smart metering rollout, supported by $875K in grants. Staff reported outreach with Palm Springs and Cathedral City ahead of Ordinance 80 enforcement; turf removal saves ~92M gal/yr. GM reported a draft Sites Reservoir water right decision issued Mar 20 with comments due May 22; five contract issues remain.
~714,000 acre-feet of conservation was presented as provisional for 2025, while in-valley agricultural deliveries fell to 2.187 million acre-feet—the lowest in records back to at least 1993. Staff said the April 1 snow survey showed snowpack nearly gone and conditions could rank among the worst years on record. On-farm efficiency generated 196,000+ acre-feet; deficit irrigation also contributed.
GEARS reporting is due May 1 (fees $300/well + $20/AF; 25% late penalty). Staff relayed that if you have an irrigation well and a domestic well on the same property, both must be reported. Stakeholders discussed (based on a webinar) how recharge credits may be treated in reporting, and the April 21 exclusion-denial hearing was discussed.
Water season is underway with ~131,765 enrolled acres tracking closely to last year. A pulse flow is set to begin around April 7–8, ramping to 10,000 cfs, with intake dredging expected to start as early as next Friday pending river levels. The Lurline pump station is essentially complete, with SCADA operational and a final software patch and walkthrough scheduled for Monday.
The Budget & Finance Committee recommended the FY 2027 budget to the board and received February financial reports. Staff projected higher fees across all sub-basins as some work formerly supported by grants shifts toward regulatory fees, but no rates were adopted. Members asked staff to test whether estimated current-year savings of $475,000 could ease tier 1 fees while building reserves. Staff plans to seek board adoption of fees in June.
