Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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By a 4–3 vote, the board continued work on pumping credit Ordinance 2026-01 and set a November 5 workshop. The pumping-credit management action remains suspended until the five-year GSP evaluation is submitted or an ordinance is adopted. Members sought more modeling but approved no new modeling assignment or GSP amendment. Dudek reported below-average preliminary rainfall, four years of production below sustainable yield, and stable shallow-well levels in San Timoteo.
Staff discussed a proposed two-year pilot to pay for forgone groundwater use, subject to board approval, and hope to share a draft in November. A prototype illustrated a proposed 20-year option under the same VLRP umbrella. Tri-County well owners in the Tule Subbasin should expect GEERS instructions. GEERS filing for land only in Tri-County’s or Southwest Kings’ Tulare Lake areas is paused under a court injunction; owners should retain records in case that changes.
The State Water Resources Control Board considered Sacramento–Delta plan amendments with regulatory and voluntary flow-and-habitat pathways. Solano Irrigation District said applying proposed criteria to 25 years of data would have yielded zero Lake Berryessa allocation in one of five years, not an actual allocation change. Water users sought clarity on developing rights; tribal, environmental justice, and fishing speakers challenged the voluntary pathway. No final vote was taken.
On October 28, Vina GSA’s SHAC recommended LMLs at all 25 North and South monitoring wells, set 15 feet below the measurable objective and triggered by fall readings below that level in two consecutive calendar years. It also recommended monthly monitoring and well-owner notification after a trigger. For Chico, it favored an urban forest assessment without Chico LMLs. The joint boards will consider the recommendations November 4.
General Manager Curtis Weeks said Forebay data support a finding of sustainability, but the draft groundwater plan needs clearer Forebay-specific costs, technical review procedures and sustainability language. The board directed staff to submit written comments by November 18 and requested clarification of its options if it declines to approve the update. A special meeting to consider the plan is anticipated in January 2027.
