New Fee Structure Moving Forward with Regulatory Approach
The Board approved proceeding with a regulatory fee structure similar to Vina GSA, featuring a two-part system in concept. Part 1 will be a flat parcel fee covering administrative costs (insurance, legal, personnel), charged equally to all parcels regardless of size. Part 2 is proposed to charge per cropped acre for agricultural users and managed wetlands, with grazing lands only paying Part 1. This represents a significant shift from the current system where fees are charged on entire parcel acreage, linking costs more closely to irrigated or flooded acres rather than total parcel size. Agricultural stakeholders generally supported this approach during outreach, though concerns were raised about domestic users potentially paying disproportionately given they use only about 4% of groundwater while, in one illustrative scenario, potentially paying around the mid‑40% range of Part 1 costs.
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