By Monserrat Solis, SJV Water
A western Fresno County groundwater agency hopes to increase pumping fees by about 212%, from $8 per acre foot to $25 per acre foot, in a bid to avoid state intervention.
The Pleasant Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) board agreed at its July 29 meeting to put the proposed fee hike to a vote of its growers through a Proposition 218 election, which is required before increasing land assessment or pumping fees.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 where growers can protest the proposed increase.
If the pumping fee hike succeeds, the Pleasant Valley Water District, which also acts as the GSA, would reduce existing land assessment fees from $6 per acre to $3.25 per acre.
The money from the pumping fee is needed, according to GSA board members, to pay for a revised groundwater plan. The Department of Water Resources deemed the region’s existing plan inadequate in February.
That determination kicked the GSA over to the state Water Resources Control Board, the enforcement arm of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). If a new plan isn’t approved by the Water Board, it could place the region into probation, which requires growers to pay extra fees and report extractions.
The new plan would cost $493,000 and take about 13 months, according to Amir Mani, a consultant with EKI Environment & Water engineering firm.
The GSA board voted 6-1 to hire EKI for the job.
Board member Craig Finster, voted no, citing the cost of adding another consultant as his reason. The district doesn’t have dedicated staff, instead contracting with outside firms for engineering, administration and legal consulting.
Cost is a concern, agreed fellow board member Travis Millwee. But farmers will have to pay one way or another.
“Those costs are going to be incurred in the future anyway through this process if we don’t go with EKI,” Millwee said.
Following the GSA meeting, the Pleasant Valley Water District opened its meeting and announced that all of the district’s seven board seats will be up for grabs at its next election, November 4, 2025.
Most of the current board members have held their positions since 2020, some since 2019. There are five four-year terms and two two-year terms. Candidates with the highest votes are appointed to the four-year terms first, then the two-year-terms.
The filing deadline is Aug. 8. Candidate forms can be accessed on the district’s website.
The Pleasant Valley GSA is the largest of three GSAs in the Pleasant Valley subbasin, which covers about 48,000 acres west of Interstate 5 near Coalinga. The other two GSAs are the City of Coalinga GSA and Fresno County Pleasant Valley GSA Area.
