Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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The groundwater report showed 2025 pumping exceeded sustainable yield, with storage down ~1,100 acre-feet and levels over 50 feet below sea level. Early signs of seawater intrusion were noted, with planned downhole sampling and efforts to secure coastal monitoring wells. The well metering policy kept the March 31 registration deadline, with penalties waived through August 31; meters must be installed by July 31 so AMI setup is complete before metered billing begins September 1.
Staff reported the FY2021–2026 groundwater management fee program over-collected by approximately $1.5 million and previewed a potential next-cycle fee of about $0.60 per acre per year. A public hearing on the new fee is planned for next month. The Board also approved $1,043,281.05 in additional ADRoP contingency funding due to utility conflicts. Well 1 may produce around 2,000 gpm, and staff expects to return next month with roughly $1.6 million in pump procurement costs.
A groundwater extraction fee of ~$22.28 per acre-foot is moving toward potential adoption for FY 2026-2027. The fee report must be published by May 7, and adoption could be considered at the May 27 meeting. The fee methodology now uses a water year (Oct–Sep) and charges only on ET of applied water, with a 5% appeals allowance built in. Staff also reported strong early enrollment in the newly launched fallowed land registry, which offers growers key protections.
Despite near-normal precipitation, snowpack is effectively gone after a warm, dry winter, leaving reservoirs without summer replenishment—water users should plan for a dry season. A groundwater model review suggests the district's corner of the Eastern San Joaquin basin is roughly neutral-to-positive in storage, meaning local pumping is not driving regional overdraft. Staff did not propose new Enterprise vehicle purchases in FY 25–26.
The committee approved the prior meeting minutes and unanimously passed two recommendations to the board: (1) that the upcoming GSA's periodic evaluation (PE) state the GSA will develop a well mitigation program within the next five-year implementation period, and (2) that the board dedicate FY 2026–27 budget funds to initiate the planning process in early 2027. Staff analysis estimated ~400–462 sustainably-constructed domestic wells are above the current MT level (24–32%), with worst-case...
