Ukiah Valley Basin GSA adopts $1.32 million FY25-26 budget, approves 2.24% fee increase

The Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency on Thursday approved a proposed fiscal year 2025–26 operating budget that projects $1.32 million in revenue and $1.14 million in expenditures, and adopted a resolution to implement a 2.24% regulatory fee increase to be placed on the Mendocino County tax roll.

The budget, presented by the agency’s General Manager, funds activities intended to meet requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The GM said staff “recommends board approval of the proposed budget” and noted the revenue total represents a 48% increase from the prior year while expenditures reflect a 60% increase, driven chiefly by grant funds and a planned technical study of interconnected surface water and groundwater-dependent ecosystems.

Board members and staff emphasized why the increases matter. “We are trying to integrate where expenditures are going and what value we’re getting in response,” the General Manager said, noting line items linked to GSP implementation tasks including periodic model updates, a well inventory, a rate-and-fee study and the interconnected-surface-water study identified…