Madera GSA committee reviews domestic-well mitigation costs as growers, residents press for alternatives

MADERA, Calif. — The Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) committee on June 3 reviewed a proposed domestic well mitigation program and fee schedule after a presentation from consultant Kevin Kostick of Raftelis that outlined estimated well replacement needs, program costs and possible timelines.

Kostick told the committee the “total gross [of] wells dewatered in the Madera Sub Basin is on the order of 440 wells,” and that about 90 have been mitigated to date, leaving a backlog he estimated at 247 wells currently receiving interim services. He said hydrology modeling projects roughly 20 additional dry wells per year for the next five years, yielding a combined need of about 848 wells across the basin and a county responsibility of roughly 73 percent — or about 621 wells — under the allocation assumptions used in the analysis.

The consultant's cost assumptions include a per-well replacement estimate of $35,000 in today’s dollars, a 10 percent program management add-on and the option to resolve the current backlog over two to five years. Kostick presented a scenario that would resolve the backlog in three years, producing roughly $5.7 million in program costs for the first fiscal year and a countywide fee of about $65 per enrolled acre in the coming fiscal year (using roughly 88,000 enrolled acres), rising modestly through 2028 before stepping down as the backlog is reduced. He said the original rate study adopted in June 2022 averaged certain fees at $246 per…