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Madera County GSA committee recommends RFP to evaluate agricultural measurement methods
Summary
Committee members recommended issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to solicit agricultural measurement vendors for farm-unit water measurement starting in 2026; discussion focused on whether to keep multiple satellite methods, the need for an accounting platform, and grower preferences for daily vs. monthly data.
The Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency Committee recommended that the Board of Directors release a request for proposals to select measurement services for farm units beginning in 2026. Staff presented an RFP approach that would solicit proposals from vendors offering satellite evapotranspiration services and metering and would include vendor presentations and grower questionnaires.
Staff told the committee the county currently offers multiple measurement options (private meters and two satellite services, EuroWatch/HydroSat and Land IQ) and that offering multiple methods increases costs. Staff said the county's prior survey showed about 50 percent of respondents were confident in their chosen method, that roughly 30 percent wanted daily measurements, and that nearly 90 percent favored offering multiple methods. The proposed RFP would gather updated grower feedback, require vendor presentations in public, and include a paper questionnaire mailed to growers to increase response rates.
Growers and stakeholder groups urged the committee to consider an integrated accounting platform alongside measurement services. Noah Lopez of the Madera Ag Water Association and other growers told the committee that measurement data alone (a portal showing daily or monthly ET) is not the same as an accounting platform that tracks allocations, carryover, imported surface water and produces a debit/credit account for users. Several growers said the RFP as written focused on measurement but did not require data management or accounting-platform integration, and they urged staff to add language asking vendors how their data would integrate with accounting platforms.
Staff responded that several accounting platforms operate in the valley and that those products are typically designed to work with a single measurement method, which complicates buying both multiple ET vendors and a platform. Staff said the RFP could be modified to ask bidders to describe how their measurement data would integrate with accounting platforms and that vendors sometimes team up—measurement providers with platform providers—when proposing. The committee agreed to add language about integration and public interviews.
The committee moved, seconded and recommended the Board issue the RFP. Roll call recorded two yes votes and no no votes.
