The board delayed a vote on five groundwater-monitoring fees for about a month. Members debated whether wells pumping two acre-feet or less yearly could be excluded without losing needed data or unlawfully shifting costs under Proposition 26. The roughly $800,000-a-year program proposed recurring fees of up to $278.28 per well, plus a possible $160.16 initial fee. The Salinas Valley Basin GSA said grants could cover initial registration for about ten months.
