Catch up on the latest GSA board meeting recaps anytime—at home, on the road, or on your tractor.
Proud Partners of
The board approved roughly $40,000 for a demand management options analysis and $7,500 toward a subsidence investigation on the authority's western boundary. Staff reported ongoing difficulty securing landowner cooperation needed to fill groundwater monitoring data gaps, with a drilling deadline approaching year-end if volunteers are not identified. Board members were asked to help connect staff with willing landowners in target areas.
Staff reported that the state's Tule interim plan could impose a two-mile pumping moratorium along the Friant-Kern Canal by April 2027, and staff noted the framework could be analogized to the Tulare Lake Subbasin's subsidence issues. A court ruling may allow probation billing to proceed for some GSAs; the state also pushed back on the well mitigation plan and DWR called the subsidence approach too reactive.
The board voted to withdraw from IWPC and send a letter stating intent to rejoin through the Ukiah Valley Water Authority. Staff reported water sold last month was up 85% year-over-year due to extreme heat; some leaks were found and customers notified. IWPC/Sonoma Water updates discussed NERF diversions and Coyote Dam modernization as long-term efforts.
Staff reported that Lake Piru is being drawn down to capture expected El Niño storm inflows this winter, with releases ramping up through fall. Groundwater in the Fillmore Basin remains near historic highs, though surface conditions are dry. The executive director announced he will retire from UWCD on Nov. 6, 2026, and the board discussed addressing the transition, possibly with a subcommittee, at a future meeting.
The board adopted a groundwater extraction fee of $50.67 per acre per year (based on 0.15 AF/acre Native Sustainable Yield) to fund PID GSA operations, separate from PID district assessments. Staff reported that a potential State pumping moratorium near the Friant-Kern Canal is still conceptual, with no draft released. Staff also noted that state GEARS invoices began mailing August 6 and that growers have 30 days from receipt to petition for reconsideration of incorrect extraction figures.
