1. Staff Discussed a Major Shift from Consumption-Based to Gross Applied Water Accounting for 2027 Staff presented concepts to convert Pixley's water allocation and accounting system from the current consumption-based (ET) model to a gross pumped/applied water system. Under this new framework, the annual allocation per acre would be approximately 0.82 acre-feet of gross applied water (including a ~0.27 AF/acre native/sustainable yield conversion from the current ET-based amount, ~0.25 AF/acre district allocated credits, ~0.37 AF/acre transitional water, and with allowable overdraft proposed to be eliminated). Critically, this allocation would be paired with a new cap/maximum annual use on total water use per year — even if a grower has banked credits, they could not exceed the cap. The cap amount has not yet been determined and will be a central topic at upcoming grower outreach meetings. Staff emphasized this conversion alone will significantly reduce pumping, particularly for flood-irrigated operations, because gross applied water is consumed much faster in accounting than ET-based water.
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