The board approved Option 2 of the proposed budget for July 2026–June 2027, which relies on contracting (rather than hiring) a part-time administrative assistant. The budget includes roughly $850,000–$880,000 in new GSP implementation costs, covering dashboard/billing system development, watermark integration, and $520,000 for well mitigation (eight known dry wells at ~$65,000 each). A proposed "sustainable yield reservation fee" of $16/acre-foot was included as a potential revenue stream — growers registered in Watermark would be invoiced to reserve their sustainable yield allocation. Staff acknowledged this is untested, voluntary, and collection rates are uncertain. The well mitigation line item will not be spent unless an outside funding source (such as a county loan) materializes.
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