Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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Directors voted 4–1, with Ed Tobias opposed, to raise 2027 agricultural water rates 5% on fixed and volumetric charges instead of staff’s proposed 7%. Staff reported about $2.6 million in 2026 billings from a ten-year out-of-district program, compared with roughly $1.8 million in combined in-district volumetric billings. Water counsel reported adoption of Phase Two of the Bay-Delta Plan; the Tuolumne River was not included.
The October 29 Bay-Delta plan includes but does not fully incorporate the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes pathway. State Water Contractors will review it; Sites Authority found little project impact ahead of a November 4 water-right hearing. On November 3, the board voted 4–0 to award a $565,000 reservoir recoating contract and authorized an MOU amendment removing Valley Sanitary District as an active member of a regional water-management group.
The board adopted the First Periodic Evaluation and 2026 Amended Groundwater Sustainability Plan, refining sustainable yield to approximately 39,700 acre-feet per year and establishing displacement-based subsidence thresholds. Groundwater levels have stabilized, and recent pumping has remained below sustainable yield. California Aqueduct subsidence rate thresholds are lower than basin-wide thresholds, and the monitoring network has been updated.
The board deferred meter-registration penalties while staff reconciles roughly 28 outstanding registrations and directed its JPA representative to support EKI’s proposed $30,000 grant concept-proposal scope. EKI’s model and annual-report request, including pumping data, is due November 13; earlier well and meter registration and pumping requests, plus Q4 groundwater-level uploads, are due November 30. Staff cautioned that modeling data missing after November 30 could increase costs.
UCLA reported that about 12% of assessed wastewater facilities and collection systems were at risk. Agricultural land use helped predict inadequacy among WDR facilities, but the association does not establish causation. Sacramento State outlined proposed modeled solutions while cost curves remain in development. Very preliminary costs may be available in January 2027; final cost and funding-gap results are planned for April.
