Sharing ideas and resources for successful implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
“On Monday the Glenn Groundwater Authority passed an operation fee increase for water service, despite meeting some opposition. Anyone within the Glenn County portion of the Colusa subbasin except for Willows and Orland will have to pay the fee.
The board set the operation fee at $1.61 per acre, per year for the fiscal 2019-2020 year. … ”
Read more from Action News Now here: Glenn Groundwater Authority approves operation fee increase for water service
“On Tuesday, May 21, the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Water Agency(Sonoma Water Board) and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors (County Board) approved a plan to offset a fee that is likely to be imposed on groundwater users in the Santa Rosa Plain (an area extending from Santa Rosa west to Sebastopol, north to Windsor and south to Cotati).
Under the plan, the County and Sonoma Water would contribute a total of up to $240,000 annually for three years to the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA). … ”
Read more from the Sonoma Gazette here: Sonoma County approves a plan to offset Groundwater Fees in the Santa Rosa Plain
“Facing a wave of opposition over proposed fees for using well water, the directors of a little-known public agency backed away from a decision Thursday and agreed to consider an alternative plan that would exempt rural residents and cost other groundwater users far less overall.
Irate residents blistered the Santa Rosa Groundwater Sustainability Agency’s board of directors with complaints over the inequity and underlying principle of the plan to make residents, ranchers, businesses, towns and cities pay — for the first time — for water pumped out of the ground. … ”
Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Groundwater sustainability board backs off fees for rural well owners in Sonoma County
“North County political leaders responsible for the health of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin are launching discussions about which multi-million-dollar water projects could help solve the aquifer’s woes—and how basin pumpers will pay for them.
In the future, the basin, which serves much of Paso Robles wine country, could start receiving water from the State Water Project, Lake Nacimiento, and/or the Salinas Dam. … ”
Read more from New Times SLO here: Paso Robles groundwater committee seeks public input on supply projects, pumping fees
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority met at City Hall on Thursday morning, first with an hour-long closed session meeting, covering potential litigation, followed by a five-hour regular meeting.
The 2019 IWVGA budget was not approved, after several board members and a handful of residents voiced their concerns over the presentation. For starters, the budget that was presented was different from the one that was in the packet. A handful of numbers had been updated, including the total revenue (pump fee revenue and stressed counties grant revenue reimbursements) as well as a couple of lines in the expenditures section. … ”
Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: No budget approved, Navy weighs in at IWV Groundwater Authority meeting
From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
“Water well owners in Sonoma County may get billed for their annual water usage under a proposed water-conservation plan up for discussion next week at a community meeting in Santa Rosa.
The Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) is hosting the Jan. 30 meeting to hear feedback on its proposed “groundwater sustainability fee,” which would provide funding to support the new agency. … “
Read more from Sonoma West here: Well owners looking at fees for their water usage
From Voices of Monterey Bay:
“Residents of the Salinas Valley will soon see their utility or water bills go up – but only a little. The new fee, which is likely to be passed by July 1, will add about $2.27 for non-agricultural residents, and $4.81 per irrigated acre for agricultural users. The fee is needed to fund the valley’s newest water agency — the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
If the new fee schedule passes, residents in areas managed by the new GSA can expect to likely see the fee included in their property tax bill or their water utility bill by the end of the year. … ”
Read more from Voices of Monterey Bay here: Salinas Valley: A little fee to manage a lot of water
From the Ridgecrest Independent:
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority Technical Advisory and Policy Advisory committees met Thursday at the Indian Wells Valley Water District boardroom. Special Legal Counsel Jim Markman was present during both meetings, though he mainly spoke and gave updates on the pumping and allocation process during the first portion of the PAC meeting.
Markman discussed his encounters and experience up until this point with other legal counsel involved in a handful of successful water negotiations in California, all of which had different scenarios and factors to them to show the possible solutions and outcomes to the committee. … ”
Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: Indian Wells Valley: Groundwater Authority committees meet for first time in 2019
From the Ridgecrest Independent:
“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority meets Thursday at 11 a.m. at Ridgecrest City Council council chambers, 100 W. California Ave.
The Groundwater Authority board will have a light agenda, including a report from Steve Johnson, the water resources manager and president of Stetson Engineers. Johnson’s report will include discussion of the Groundwater Authority’s Plan of Action and Milestones, which serves as the agency’s roadmap in developing the Groundwater Sustainability Plan, as well as topics including the status of a Proposition 1 grant application, and updates on the pumping fee status and schedule. … ”
Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s light agenda features POAM, Prop 1 status