Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
Proud Partners of
The board approved the FY 2026–2027 budget ($643,700). The board discussed LandIQ costs and a possible long-term shift toward well metering (no decision). The Public Review Draft 2026 Amended GSP was released for public review; a 60-day comment period is proposed, with a draft deadline of Sept. 5, 2026. The board approved pursuing Grapevine RV Park and Cuyama Orchards wells for water quality monitoring, with Tut Brothers wells as backup.
Fees were raised to the maximum allowed under the existing Prop 218 assessment for FY 2026-27 alongside an unbalanced budget (~$500,000 shortfall) expected to be covered by reserves. The GSA approved up to $184,800 with David's Engineering for demand management program development. Staff and members discussed revisiting finances in early 2027 as actual costs become clearer.
The board authorized a rebid (Res. 26-04) and began county paperwork for the $32.85/acre assessment (Res. 26-03). Staff discussed using the Aug. 5 meeting as a go/no-go point ahead of the county's Aug. 10 deadline, depending on grant confirmation and rebid numbers; otherwise it could slip about a year.
The board approved a groundwater extraction fee of $6 per acre foot for FY 2026-2027 and adopted a single reserve fund policy set at 20% of the annual budget. Growers should anticipate fees rising significantly in coming years as grant funding is exhausted. In public comment and correspondence, stakeholders urged the Board to consider staying CMA allocation enforcement pending adjudication and said the water exchange program is not functioning; no Board action was taken on those requests.
GSAs to submit well registration data by Nov 30, 2026; EKI will send a template in July. WY 2026 pumping totals also due Nov 30; PRP metering policy deadline was Jan 2026. EKI highlighted nitrate/TDS watchlist wells (in DM-II and Northwestern DM GSAs) to monitor closely for August sampling and recommended verification samples if results exceed thresholds.
