Water Year 2026 Tiered Allocation Set at 0.75 Acre-Feet Per Acre: The board approved Resolution 2025-01 establishing the 2026 groundwater allocation at 0.75 acre-feet per acre, up from the initially proposed 0.65 acre-feet per acre. This increase came after the advisory committee conducted expanded modeling using a 10-year average instead of a 5-year window, determining the higher allocation was sustainable while maintaining financial stability with a $10 per acre-foot rate. With unchanged 0.83 acre-feet Native Yield and a 0.54 acre-feet Precipitation Tier, the total allocation is 2.12 acre-feet per acre.
Well Registration Process Moving to Mandatory System: The agency is transitioning from voluntary to mandatory well registration, though this won't be punitive with fines like other GSAs. Instead, unregistered wells will be ineligible for certain benefits including pre-mitigation programs and tiered water allocations, with staff currently 80-90% complete on well inventory work.
New Subsidence Management Requirements from State: The Department of Water Resources released new Best Management Practices for subsidence that essentially create a four-category system based on whether basins have existing subsidence and whether they allow continued groundwater level declines. The agency believes most of these requirements are already addressed in their current Groundwater Sustainability Plan, but staff will provide a full technical analysis at the September meeting.
Financial position remains stable with $991,000 in checking and $3.189 million in money market accounts, plus $576,000 in outstanding emergency ordinance receivables.
The agency approved continuing with Katona Mastro CPA for the 2025 audit engagement.
State Water Resources Control Board is maintaining current SIGMA fees at $300 wellhead fee and $20 per acre-foot for probationary basins, abandoning plans for tiered fee structures.
Cameron Creek Linear Recharge Project approved as a Mid-Kaweah project with costs shared between TID, City of Visalia, and City of Tulare, expected to yield 1,000 acre-feet annually.
Task Order 10 for Data Management System updates approved at $25,000 (split three ways with other GSAs) to incorporate water quality data and new surface water monitoring.
The agency approved participation in the Kaweah-Tule Cross Valley Groundwater Banking Investigation feasibility study with $50,000 contribution to explore large-scale water banking opportunities.
Two wells currently moving through the mitigation program with Self-Help Enterprises, with the first case report nearing completion for advisory committee review.
Well inventory work is 80-90% complete using tablet-based field surveys and desktop analysis of well permits.
Board Approvals:
How to Engage: Growers can contact Aaron Fukuda at akf@tulareid.org with questions or submit comments for future meetings. The next board meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2025, at 3:00 PM in Tulare City Council Chambers with remote participation options available.
