1. The SHAC voted 5-2 to recommend revising groundwater level Minimum Thresholds (MTs) across the subbasin using Alternative 2. This is the most significant outcome for growers. Alternative 2 uses a dual criterion—the deeper of either 20 feet below the historical low or the level at which 5% of domestic wells are at risk—to set new MTs for all North and South management area wells (Chico area wells stay the same). This approach, modeled after the Wyandotte Creek subbasin, would create an earlier regulatory trigger in 16 of 25 monitoring wells, though some MTs would actually be lower than 2022 levels in certain polygons with few domestic wells. The recommendation now goes to the GSA Boards for a final decision, and growers should be aware this would be a formal GSP amendment if adopted.
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