Documenter: Josef Sibala
Here’s what you need to know:
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The ETGSA Land Subsidence Management Zone Ad-Hoc Committee stated that 6 inches of subsidence for 2020. Meanwhile, they are seeking to implement “simple projects” to alleviate the subsidence.
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Due to having the Opt-in agreement available so late, the ETGSA is approving “late” agreement forms for the current water year 2020-2021. A copy of the agreement with a welcome letter was sent to landowners with bisected parcels on the eastern boundary.
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The revised 2019/20 Annual Report of Tule Subbasin Technical Advisory Committee will include new storage change values and revisions to the Groundwater Level Minimum Thresholds in the report. Once finalized, the managers will review the annual reports.
The Scene
The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA), according to its website, enforces the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) that is specified by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
The agency consults with water districts and “various environmental and agricultural interests” regarding groundwater use.
The meeting was held on Thursday, August 5, 2021, at 2 p.m. via Zoom.
Officials Present:
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Chairman of Porterville Irrigation District Eric Borba
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Vice-Chairman of Saucelito Irrigation District Steve Kisling
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Dennis Townsend, representing Tulare County
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City of Porterville District 4 Mayor Monte Reyes
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Teapot Dome Water District Director Matthew Leider
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Kern-Tulare Water District Director Curt Holmes
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Terra Bella Irrigation District Director for District 2 Geoffrey C. Galloway
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Vandalia Water District Director Dyson Schneider
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John Corkins of White Area
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General Manager Rogelio Caudillo
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Legal Counsel Aubrey Mauritson
Others Present:
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4Creeks Engineer David DeGroot, Fresno-Madera Young Farmers & Ranchers member Trelawney Bullis, Clayton Smith (Field Representative of Rep. Valadao), Todd Turley, 4Creeks Executive Assistant Alexis Meneses, Andrew Hart, Community Water Center Community Solutions Coordinator Daisy Gonzalez, Dalee Chang, Don Tucker, David Payne, Eric Limas, John Michael Domondon, John Gaugel, Josh Dowell, Matt Brady, Michael Knight, Monte Reyes, Sopac Mulholland, Stacie Ann Silva
Steve Dalke, Vanessa Yap, Wilson, (559)-789-3978, (209)-324-1036, (559)-230-3308, (559)-368-2860, (661)-213-6754, (661)-792-3151, Jeff Looker
Discussions/Actions
The board approved the items as follows:
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July 9, 2021, Special Meeting of the Board Minutes.
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Third Amended Employment Services Contract with Terra Bella Irrigation District.
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Review the Financial Statements; consider ratification of bills paid and approval of bills to be paid.
The Finance Committee discussed Extraction Fee invoicing at the July 20, 2021 Meeting. They recommended staff to issue out invoices for parcels in the Greater Tule Management Area and irrigated acres in the Community Management Areas as described in Resolution 2021-03
The ETGSA Land Subsidence Management Zone Ad-Hoc Committee stated that 6 inches of subsidence for 2020. Meanwhile, they are seeking to implement “simple projects” to alleviate the subsidence.
Regarding the ETGSA Opt-in Agreement, the staff made some non-substantive changes in the language to reduce possible confusion on the agreement.
Due to having the agreement available so late, the ETGSA is approving “late” agreement forms for the current Water Year 2020-2021.
A copy of the agreement with a welcome letter was sent to landowners with bisected parcels on the eastern boundary.
Fresno-Madera Young Farmers & Ranchers member Trelawney Bullis asked to extend the time for landowners to comment and get the “technical side of things.”
The ETGSA Opt-in Agreement covers 154 bisected, which are partial “in-and-out” parcels totaling 19,000 acres.
4Creeks Engineer David DeGroot stated that The ETGSA Emergency Ordinance No. 2021-01 has been in place since Oct. 1, 2020, which “reduced” the amount of groundwater consumption (by acre-feet) by 10%.
Then, the Transitional Water Invoice will be available in August.
Last month, BasinSafe accounts had 1,277 accounts, while 1,413 accounts as of today.
The total irrigated acres enrolled in the system is 71,648 acres. Accounts that made a custom withdrawal priority increased from 51 to 106.
6 parcels out of 8 bisected parcels that opt-out of the agreement was approved, totaling 18 acres.
In addition to its regular Board and Committee Meetings and email correspondence to its Interested Parties List, ETGSA continues to conduct community outreach regarding SGMA, ETGSA, and the development of ETGSA’s Draft GSP through a variety of events and other media.
On July 9, 2021, 81 participants attended the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors & Public Hearing.
On July 29, 2021, 33 participants attended the Special Stakeholder Committee Meeting.
On July 29, 2021, the ETGSA updated Porterville Government Affairs Committee (GAC) Committee on current GSA activities.
On July 20, 2021, 40 to 50 participants attended the Land Subsidence Management Plan Workshop.
The ETGSA Stakeholder Committee canceled their regular scheduled meetings due to a lack of agenda items.
A special meeting held on July 29, 2021. The meeting was a follow-up on the Land Subsidence Monitoring and Management Plan Workshop. Attendees were able to hear presentations previously given to Committees, ask questions, and provide comments to the staff.
The Executive Committee did not meet in July due to a lack of agenda items.
The ETGSA Finance Committee met on July 20, 2021. The committee unanimously approved the items as follows:
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Minutes of the July 9, 2021, ETGSA Finance Committee Meeting.
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Financial Statements and Paying the bills.
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Reviewed and Discussed Groundwater Extraction Fee for Fiscal Year 2021-22 and Invoicing.
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Reviewed and Discussed ETGSA Administrative Assistant Job Description
The Tule Subbasin Technical Advisory Committee met on July 21, 2021. Hydrogeologist Tom Harder is working on an updated Groundwater Flow Model and currently finishing work on the revised Annual Report.
The revised 2019/20 Annual Report of Tule Subbasin Technical Advisory Committee will include new storage change values and revisions to the Groundwater Level Minimum Thresholds in the report. Once finalized, the managers will review the annual reports.
On Subbasin Monitoring, the data management system is under development with an expected completion date in October 2021.
For Proposition 1, the TAC has closed out finalizing invoices, while for Proposition 68, they are looking into more monitoring wells to fill data gaps.
They discussed and reviewed finances and upcoming deadlines for grants.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) scheduled a meeting for October 20, 2021, at 2 pm. Notices and agendas, including call-in information for the TAC meetings, will be posted on the Tule Subbasin website: www.tulesgma.com. ETGSA will also provide notice and Agendas.
During the closed session, the ETGSA discussed the item as follows:
a. Conference With Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation: [Significant exposure to litigation under Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2)]
Number of Potential Cases: Three
The meeting ended at 5 p.m. The next meeting will be on Thursday, September 2, 2021, at 2 p.m. via Zoom.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at Documenters-admin@thefresnoland.com with “Correction Request” in the subject line.