Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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The Salinas Valley Basin GSA board approved Portfolio 3A, but long-term funding and cost allocations remain undecided; preliminary work is funded. Corral de Tierra groundwater levels have declined for roughly two decades, and the Monterey Subbasin had groundwater-level and storage undesirable results in each of the first five SGMA implementation years. Staff reported a recent seawater intrusion advance near Fort Ord; modeling projects further intrusion without new measures.
Staff shared a draft Water Plan 2028 outline to catalog statewide strategies and compare cumulative strategy capacities to the 9 million acre-foot target. DWR selected part of the San Joaquin Valley as a pilot area to test regional planning and modeling before statewide rollout. A 34-member recharge working group kicks off Oct. 1, with a call for recharge readiness ahead of a potentially wet winter.
The board approved a Resolution of Necessity to acquire property interests at 463 Worcester Avenue (San Jose) for the Coyote Creek Flood Protection Project, a nine-mile effort designed to guard against flooding at the February 2017 level. The board also approved a $5,963,750 Berryessa Creek Off-Site Mitigation construction contract despite a sole bid above estimate. Staff noted the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project's Stage 2 diversion is expected to be operational in 2028.
Water accounting summaries were discussed as likely moving into the printing/mailing process ahead of September 2–3 community workshops. The demand management framework is largely complete, but funding remains unresolved; the board asked to agendize a funding and legal policy discussion for the September 18 joint CGA/GGA meeting. The board approved continued participation in the seven-subbasin interconnected surface waters effort, with Proposition 4 grant funding to be pursued.
Staff reported post-2026 Colorado River guidelines set California at 3.96 million acre-feet (down 440,000) if an implementing agreement is executed, and that Lake Mead elevations could trigger consultation and potential limits on access to stored water in 2028. Staff said the draft Sites water-right permit includes a 55% unimpaired bypass flow; a revised draft is expected Sept. 3 and a final permit is targeted for early November.
