1. Staff proposed pumping-based groundwater accounting for October 1, 2027. The GSA currently accounts for groundwater consumption using evapotranspiration, or ET. The proposed approach would account for groundwater extracted, using meters or ET-based pumping estimates where needed. Staff said lower-aquifer pumping is a principal driver of subsidence. If the basin does not put forward an adequate alternative, staff expects the State Water Board’s proposed interim plan to use pumping-based accounting. Flood irrigators raised a concern that, without an upper-aquifer return-flow credit, an illustrative roughly 30% of pumped water returning to the shallow aquifer might receive no account credit. No return-flow rule was adopted. Staff also described a possible future annual pumping limit regardless of stored credits; no cap was approved.
2. A Corrective Subsidence Management Order is under development, not approved. Staff targeted possible adoption of the order, or CSMO, for January 2027. It would set out a transition toward pumping-based accounting and could restrict new lower-aquifer wells upon adoption, subject to defining the affected aquifer and considering exceptions. Separate recharge and transfer policy revisions remain under development. Topics include possible changes to the existing 10% leave-behind rule for landowner-developed credits and whether older credits should begin declining after a technically supported period. Staff discussed December 2026 or January 2027 as possible timing for those separate policies. Growers cautioned against undermining investments made under current credit rules.
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