COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Colusa Groundwater Authority (CGA) has extended the voting period on its proposed new groundwater fee assessment to 1 p.m. on Aug. 26.
The unprecedented extension of the Proposition 218 process is a direct response to Assembly Bill 2257, a new California law that took effect this year that requires local agencies to respond in writing to objections submitted by property owners before finalizing any new taxes.
This procedural safeguard is designed to enhance transparency and reduce legal disputes, said CGA attorney Alan Doud, who received 150 pages of material before the Aug. 2 deadline.
Although CGA had assembled its consulting firm to tabulate ballots in the Colusa Industrial Properties conference room on Aug. 7, Doud recommended the CGA board extend the public hearing and voting period by three weeks to address written objections and still meet Colusa County’s deadline to add the assessment to this year’s property tax roll, if the assessment is approved by voters.
For the fees to be assessed, a majority (50% plus one) of property owners in the Colusa Subbasin must agree to change the current $1.21 per acre assessment to fees based on four newly defined land use classifications: non-irrigable land at $0.53 per acre, groundwater-only parcels at $11.19 per acre, conjunctive use parcels (those using both surface and groundwater) at $7.42 per acre, and surface water-only parcels at $2.66 per acre.
CGA officials said extending the hearing allows for property owners who have not received a ballot to request a ballot, ask for Spanish language assistance, challenge their land classification, still vote – if they have not done so – or change their vote if they have already voted.
Public comments revealed continuing concerns from landowners about the ballot process, including delays, errors, and lack of clarity. Stakeholders also criticized CGA’s proposed new $1.9 million annual budget as excessive and questioned its proportionality, especially for areas not facing groundwater issues.
Equity and double taxation emerged as a central theme, with calls for fairer assessment calculations, credit for groundwater recharge, and a sunset provision on fees.
“A lot of us who use surface water are already taxed for it,” Colusa farmer Woody Yerxa said. “Now I’m going to be taxed again.”
Former GCA Chairman Darren Williams, who champions local control of groundwater to keep the California Department of Water Resources from coming in with a more costly regulatory approach, said he is rethinking his support for increasing fees for a basin-wide approach after talking to farmers who believe the fee structure targets them to solve a problem they did not create.
“If we can keep the fees small for those folks that don’t have sustainability issues in the subbasin, then they are going to go along with it,” Williams said. “They are going to be willing partners.”
Williams, who also questioned the engineer’s report regarding projected water use, suggested the GCA, with its current $480,000 budget, develop an accounting and demand management system focused in the Arbuckle area.
“We don’t have to get things perfect today and build this giant bureaucracy and a big assessment,” Williams said. “We have another assessment period coming up in five years as needs arise. Today, we need to focus on solving a problem, and that is bringing surface water into the problem area. That’s it.”
Such a change in strategy mirrors what many small farmers and ranchers without thirsty permanent crops have said all along.
Joe Lauwerijssen, who the Pioneer Review, in its coverage of the July 22 CGA meeting in Williams, incorrectly identified as a landowner concerned that the assessment would pave the way for water trading, is one of the farmers Willams talked to about solution-based approach to achieving groundwater sustainability to protect all water users.
Community feedback is expected to drive several action plans. CGA Chair Jim Wallace said staff will prepare an alternate fiscal year 2025-26 budget if the assessment fails.
Ballots will be secured and stored until the close of the public hearing and tabulation on Aug. 26.
The board will also hold a meeting at 1 p.m. on Aug. 19 to review and discuss responses to written objections, at the Colusa Industrial Properties conference room. The room will be staffed until 7:30 p.m. to answer questions and for the public to cast or change their ballots. For the assessment to go into effect, a majority of returned ballots (50% plus one) must be marked “Yes.” The assessment will not be implemented if the majority votes “No.”
In Proposition 218 elections, ballots are weighted to reflect the financial obligation or “benefit” tied to each parcel, which ensures landowners with more at stake have proportionally more influence.
Many farmers, who rely solely on groundwater, stressed that a state takeover of groundwater management could put them out of businesses. Municipal water users, who also rely entirely on groundwater, believe they could also face more stringent restrictions on water such as those implemented during the drought, if the CGA losses local control.