Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
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The board adopted Ordinances 82 (Water Shortage Contingency Plan, 4-1) and 83 (water waste enforcement, 5-0), setting penalties at $100/$500/$1,000 for first through third violations and formalizing first-penalty waivers. Staff discussed rate-design software to model conservation-driven rate impacts, and directors discussed challenges funding turf conversion and HOA financial impacts.
Staff reported Cross Valley Canal liner repairs were underway and the liner was poured the morning of the meeting; staff hoped water could return by mid-next week, about a month earlier than previously anticipated. Kern Fan banking recovery totaled about 44,246 acre-feet in 2026; hydrographs show year-over-year middle-aquifer declines at all six sites. KINDLA advanced SGMA allocation framework work and sought well volunteers for water-quality data.
Staff and consultants from Davids Engineering and ERA Economics reviewed a net groundwater impact accounting concept and examples of draft informational statements being used in neighboring basins. Members compared recent monitoring data to GSP thresholds and discussed revisiting sustainable management criteria during the periodic evaluation. Potential funding concepts, including grants and groundwater-use-based charges, were discussed.
At its August 27 meeting, the Salinas Valley Basin GSA’s technical advisory committee discussed evidence of Upper Valley overdraft and a triggered long-term action threshold. An illustrative no-agricultural-pumping scenario raised modeled water levels in some areas but barely changed average annual storage change; its baseline already avoided groundwater-level undesirable results. Members flagged a possible river-flow model discrepancy and adopted no management action.
The board approved the intended award of Phase 2A construction management services to Arcadis (NTE $9.26M) for the ~2.7-mile parallel canal project, with final award delegated to the CEO; bids are due Sept. 18 and OBBB funds cover Phase 2A costs. Friant Class 1 remains at 100%; staff are tracking a potentially record El Niño for winter impacts. A Bowman algae study starts Sept. 9 on copper treatment effectiveness.
