The Board accepted the draft Groundwater Replenishment Assessment Engineering Survey and Report, which proposes increasing the replenishment assessment from $235 to $255 per acre-foot — part of a planned $20/year escalation until the rate reaches the full program cost (~$295/AF) by FY 2028-29. The actual cost of the program is currently $291/AF, meaning producers are still being subsidized by roughly $36/AF. Staff indicated June 16, 2026 as the target date for a future public hearing to set the rates (rate-setting action to occur at that hearing, if scheduled). For comparison, Coachella Valley Water District's proposed rate is $172/AF in the West Whitewater sub-basin and $135/AF in the Mission Creek sub-basin — the difference stems from how each agency splits costs between replenishment assessments and property tax rates, not from a difference in actual program cost.
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