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State Water Board outlines fee options as water rights fund reserve falls under review
Summary
State Water Resources Control Board staff presented the water rights fund condition and two fee-path options — no-fee change using reserves or a 4–5% across-the-board increase — and described a separate Budget Change Proposal for legal resources and a $5.4 million loan tracked to support SGMA implementation.
State Water Resources Control Board staff on July 30 presented two fee-setting options for the water rights fund and warned stakeholders that budget adjustments from the Department of Finance could change the numbers in the fall. The board ivision's fee and revenue branch chief, David Ciccarelli, said staff will propose a fee schedule for board consideration at a public meeting on Sept. 16.
The presentation laid out a projected fiscal-year 2024-25 ending balance of $9.8 million, about a 26% reserve, and two paths for 2025-26: no fee increases with about $2.5 million of reserves used (bringing the reserve to about $7.3 million, or roughly 19.6%), or an across-the-board fee increase of about 4% to 5% that would use roughly $840,000 of reserves and better align revenues with expenditures. "We're trying to do our best to lower [reserve] into a proper level," Ciccarelli said.
Staff detailed the net decrease in the fee-setting budget from $38.8 million…
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