COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Colusa Groundwater Authority has an approved Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Colusa Subbasin, but how it will fund its implementation has yet to be determined.
CGA officials said they will continue to evaluate the cost of implementing projects to meet the requirements of the historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. The authority aims to develop both next year’s budget and a five-year budget to propose a new rate structure for voting landowners this summer, as discussed at the April 22 meeting.
“Last month, we reported that the Department of Water Resources sent out a letter of determination approving the revised GSP, which is obviously great news,” said Program Manager Carol Thomas-Keefer. “We’ve been putting a lot of effort into that.”
However, Keefer said having an approved sustainability plan does not mean the state does not have concerns about how Colusa will address land subsidence from decades of over pumping groundwater.
“Unfortunately, it’s kind of like getting a grade on a test in school,” Keefer said. “You can pass, but it doesn’t mean you got all the answers correct.”
Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the Department of Water Resources is required to evaluate whether Colusa’s submitted groundwater sustainability plan is likely to achieve the sustainability goal for the basin and whether the plan adversely affects the ability of an adjacent basin to implement its GSP or impedes achievement of the state’s sustainability goals.
Keefer said DWR’s determination includes a list of recommendations, some of which apply beyond Colusa County. Among the nine corrective actions, DWR expects the CGA to update the water budget to include current groundwater overdraft estimates.
DWR has also recommended that the Colusa Groundwater Authority detail projects and management actions necessary for sustainability, including identifying corrective actions for groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
Keefer stated that the authority still has significant work ahead, particularly concerning water quality.
“We’ve all been hearing a lot about demand management and domestic well mitigation,” Keefer said. “But all of the corrective actions are items that we are going to have to start working to address as well. These will all have to be discussed when we provide a periodic evaluation of the GSP.”
The authority must report progress by January 2027, five years after it first submitted their plan to the state.
“It doesn’t mean everything is going to get done, but it means that we have to show that we are working towards these (corrective actions) when we prepare that periodic evaluation,” Keefer said.
The Glenn and Colusa groundwater authorities will meet jointly on May 16 and June 10 to discuss how they will move forward with groundwater management actions.
Keefer said the authority will likely have to extend and expand its contract with their consultant, David’s Engineering, who is also guiding the authority with the Proposition 218 process to increase the tax assessment to fund groundwater management programs.
“We still have considerable work to do on our programs, our (groundwater) demand management, and our well mitigation programs.
A budget ad hoc committee is expected to present the CGA board with a proposed 2025/26 budget for adoption in July so as to begin finalizing a rate structure to put before voters.
The authority previously considered four separate rate structures, but opponents of the tax increase said such a plan carved out special rates for farmers and water conveyors who have access to groundwater and profit by selling their surface water.
“We should have two rates: one for people who don’t use groundwater and one for everyone else.” said Ben King.
King said CGA’s proposed rate plan penalizes people who have been good stewards of the land and benefits those who converted land with inadequate water into high-demand crops.
Water pumpers have denied the claim due to increased productions costs when relying on groundwater to irrigate crops.
CGA officials want a new fee structure to be in place by August so the agency can move forward with groundwater management actions identified in its Groundwater Sustainability Plan, which provides direction to ensure the water basin remains on a path to long-term sustainability.
The CGA’s current $1.21 per acre assessment primarily covers administrative expenses and consultant fees.