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State Water Board proposes graduated SGMA extraction fees to ease burden on small pumpers; stakeholders urge caution
Summary
Board staff proposed replacing a flat $20 per-acre-foot SGMA extraction fee with a five-bracket graduated structure that would lower fees for most pumpers while raising fees for a small number of high-volume extractors. Staff sought comments and noted fee waivers remain for qualifying small entities.
State Water Resources Control Board staff presented a concept June 11 to change the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) extraction fee from a flat $20 per acre-foot to a graduated, five-bracket structure designed to reduce fees for the majority of pumpers and increase fees only for a small number of high-volume extractors.
Natalie Stork, director of the Office of Sustainable Groundwater Management at the State Water Board, told stakeholders the program needs roughly $5.5 million per year to support state intervention work and that staff developed a graduated-fee concept to reduce the burden on small and mid-sized pumpers. Under the concept, the fee schedule would keep the $300 per-well base fee but add five volume brackets for per-acre-foot charges: 0–2…
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