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Fox Canyon board backs one‑year extension of Las Posas operating yield while modeling is completed
Summary
The board authorized staff to recommend to the court extending the Las Posas Valley Basin initial operating yield of 40,000 acre‑feet through water year 2025, contingent on consultant analysis showing no adverse effect to achieving sustainability by 2040; modeling and timing remain points of discussion.
The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency on Jan. 22, 2025 authorized staff and outside counsel to ask the court to extend the Las Posas Valley Basin’s initial operating yield of 40,000 acre‑feet through water year 2025, provided pending technical analysis shows the extension will not impede achieving sustainability by 2040.
Jason, assistant agency counsel, described the operating yield as “the amount of water in the basin that can be used by water right holders,” and explained that the basin optimization yield study required under the Las Posas adjudication cannot be completed until December 2025 at the earliest. The study must set operating yields year‑by‑year through 2039 and determine any ramp‑down schedule needed to reach the sustainable yield in 2040.
Jason told the board the study’s schedule slipped because of heavy agency workloads and unresolved modeling access. The agency and consultant Dudek prepared a revised schedule to finish the study by Dec. 12, 2025, but that timeline assumes no further modeling issues. The board was told parts of the study rely on model files and services historically run by United; staff has not finalized a contract with United for those modeling services.
John Lindquist, water resources supervisor at United, told the board he had recently returned from leave and expected United to provide a clear answer on the scope and timeline within a short period. “Yes or no very quickly,” he said when asked whether United could provide an update in the next two weeks.
Rob, speaking for the Planning and Advisory Committee, said PAC supports filing the motion to extend the operating yield for another year while the modeling and study proceed and recommended giving TAC (the technical advisory committee) additional time in the middle of the process to review model simulations.
Jason said Dudek is preparing an analysis of the potential impacts if the initial 40,000‑acre‑foot operating yield is carried through water year 2025; preliminary guidance is that an additional year at 40,000 acre‑feet would likely increase the rate of ramp‑down slightly in subsequent years but Dudek’s numerical analysis will quantify the effect.
After discussion, the board voted to authorize counsel to seek the extension of the initial operating yield through water year 2025, subject to language and filing that conform to the court’s prior orders.
Board members asked staff to continue outreach to TAC and PAC, finalize modeling arrangements with United, and build in modest schedule buffers to give TAC time to review model simulations. The board’s authorization does not itself change the judgment; outside counsel and staff will prepare the appropriate court filing to implement the board’s direction.
