Public and staff press for clearer fallowing and shallow-well mitigation plans; Mojave Pistachios transfer noted

At the Oct. 8 meeting, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority received public comment urging staff to define a transient fallowing program included in the authority’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan, and staff said they will follow up with the caller and prepare a memo for the board.

Judy Decker, president of the Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District, said the groundwater sustainability plan years earlier had offered a transient fallowing option for farmers but that the authority has not developed program details or implementation steps. “There is nothing in your document that talks about fallowing, how you’re going to go about doing it, or choices you’re going to offer,” Decker said.

Board members responded that staff should follow up with Decker and that a memo will be prepared summarizing the status of that item and any funding or program-development options. Stetson consultant Steve said the authority will pursue potential outside funding and work with Decker’s contacts on grant possibilities.

Staff also discussed the shallow-well mitigation program. Board members and staff said the authority has received registration inquiries but that the program as constituted is closed to new applications, and that registration remains a requirement for participation. Steve said staff would consider legitimate late applications on a case-by-case basis and would bring atypical cases to the board for a decision.

“Depending on the circumstances, we certainly wouldn’t go ahead with it without bringing it to the board,” Steve said, describing how staff would handle late or exceptional applications to the shallow-well mitigation program.

General Manager Carol reported that Mojave Pistachios purchased the Simmons Farms transient pool allocation, 3,622 acre-feet, and staff included that second transient pool revenue in the budget discussion. Joshua Nugent of Mojave Pistachios thanked the board for completing the transfer.

During public comment, local water-district representatives said state agencies are currently leading efforts related to small-system consolidation and that the Indian Wells Valley Water District will follow state direction if directed to assume operations. George Kroll, general manager of the Indian Wells Valley Water District, said the district will follow state direction and stated the district and the authority will meet to coordinate locally where possible.

Staff also told the board that, at the time of the meeting, no shallow-well mitigation applications were pending for review and that Provost & Pritchard and other consultants are coordinating with Kern County roads on recent storm impacts so design and scour analysis for pipeline alignments can reflect recent flooding.

Action/direction: Board directed staff to follow up on Judy Decker’s fallowing-program questions and prepare a memo to the board on the status and next steps; staff to refer unusual shallow-well mitigation applications to the board.