Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Groundwater Monitoring topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board delays decision on new groundwater monitoring fees after members raise equity concerns
Summary
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors continued discussion on a proposed county groundwater monitoring program and fee schedule on July 8 after members raised equity concerns about billing smaller domestic well owners the same way as large users.
Monterey County supervisors on July 8 continued consideration of a proposed county-wide groundwater monitoring program (GMP) regulatory fee structure after several board members raised questions about equity and how small domestic (de minimis) well owners would be assessed.
Staff described the program as an expansion of decades of county groundwater-monitoring work. The proposed fees would be billed by subbasin and by well, and include a one-time well registration fee for wells not currently documented in county/state databases, an annual well-registration maintenance fee, an annual extraction-reporting fee for wells extracting more than the state's de minimis threshold (about 2 acre-feet per year), groundwater-level monitoring costs, and groundwater-quality monitoring (largely focused on seawater intrusion samples in the northern subbasins). Staff estimated total program costs around $800,000 per year if fully implemented.
To reduce immediate costs for well owners and encourage voluntary registration of undocumented wells, the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVB GSA) agreed to contribute grant funding to cover the program's first year. Staff proposed using that initial year to invite landowners to register without charge and to exercise the program before rolling fees forward in later years.
Several supervisors expressed concern that the proposed fee structure assigns costs equally across wells within a subbasin rather than proportionally to water use, which could leave many small domestic well owners paying the same per-well fee as large agricultural or municipal users. Supervisor Church said he could not "support doing this right now" because the large number of de minimis users in some subbasins would be "subsidizing" larger users. Supervisor Alejo and others argued the program would provide essential monitoring and that a grant-funded first year would give the county time to refine the fee design.
After extended discussion, the board voted to continue the item to the board's first August meeting so staff could return with refined options. Supervisor Alejo moved for continuance and Supervisor Askew seconded; the roll call vote was unanimous.
Why it matters: California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires basin-wide monitoring and plans to achieve sustainability. Monterey County's expanded monitoring is intended to address recommended corrective actions contained in state reviews of the Salinas Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan, fill data gaps, and provide a single, county-managed monitoring program to support local GSAs.
Next steps: Staff will return with a clearer fee proposal and a resolution for board consideration in August, reflecting the continuation direction taken July 8. The initial year of monitoring activities would be funded by an SVB GSA subgrant if the board approves the program and subgrant arrangement in the future.
