Madera GSA staff to negotiate HydroSat contract, schedule platform demos after grower survey

The Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) committee recommended beginning contract negotiations with HydroSat (formerly EoroWatch) for satellite-based measurement services and to host online demonstrations of the top three groundwater accounting platforms for growers.

Stephanie Agneson, Director of Water and Natural Resources, told the committee the GSA received seven proposals in response to its May request for proposals: two measurement-service bids and five accounting-platform responses. Staff reported a grower questionnaire with about 48 unique respondents (roughly 35% of enrolled acreage) showed just over a majority — 52% — preferred HydroSat as the satellite measurement method. The questionnaire also showed most respondents were not in favor of the GSA funding more than one satellite measurement method.

Using survey results, Agneson said staff’s recommendation is to open negotiations with HydroSat on a three-year contract to reduce recurring procurement work and capture cost savings. She also proposed inviting the top three measurement and accounting vendors to provide recorded online workshops and then resurvey growers after demos.

Growers who spoke at the meeting supported the staged approach but urged more in-depth testing before final commitments. Noah Lopez, representing the Madera Ag Water Association, emphasized that accounting platforms “have the potential moving forward to be kind of the cornerstone” for how growers will view allocations, carryover and potential future trading. Lopez urged in-depth demonstrations so growers could “see what it would be like to log in to this portal, to view different fields, to view farm units as a whole, to understand the allocation.”

Larkin Harmon, a West Side grower and president of Clayton Water District, proposed an ad hoc committee or pilot program to let a few farmers try platforms hands-on for a month to identify practical gaps in functionality and usability. Several speakers also noted that flow meters should remain an available option; meter users may prefer that as a reliable alternative.

Agenson said the accounting platforms would require a longer ramp-up and were unlikely to be ready by the GSA’s January 1 target start date for a measurement system. Staff recommended completing HydroSat negotiations to meet the near-term measurement deadline and use the fall to host platform demos and re-survey growers.

No formal committee motion was recorded on this information item. Staff said negotiations and workshops would proceed and that staff would return with additional cost details and demonstration scheduling.