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Ojai Basin agency reviews draft budget, proposes higher GM authority and flags model conversion costs
Summary
The agency presented a draft fiscal budget based on 3,500 acre‑feet of extractions and flagged major costs for the five‑year GSP evaluation and a future conversion of the groundwater model to open‑source code; staff proposed raising the general‑manager professional‑services signing authority to $25,000 and purchase authorization to $5,000.
At its Aug. 28 meeting the Ojai Basin Groundwater Management Agency reviewed a draft budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and discussed proposed revisions to the agency’s financial policies.
General Manager Julia said she "based the income amounts on 3,500 acre feet of extractions over the fiscal year" and noted that extractions through June stood at about 2,500 acre‑feet. She identified the five‑year periodic evaluation of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) and associated updates to the numerical groundwater model as the largest anticipated expenditures next year.
Staff described the existing groundwater/watershed model as developed with proprietary software and said DWR recommends open‑source codes; staff explained the plan is to incorporate DWR climate factors into the current model this year and to plan the full model conversion and update in 2027 and beyond to spread costs.
Julia presented a redlined financial policy that would raise the purchase authorization threshold from $2,500 to $5,000 for small purchases and would give the general manager authority up to $25,000 for professional services; any contracts above that amount would return to the board for approval. Board members debated whether the thresholds were appropriate for the agency’s size and requested that staff report whenever thresholds are exceeded so the board can track frequency and adequacy.
The agency also discussed participation in a small‑GSA coalition and a memorandum of understanding to spread lobbying and staffing costs; staff estimated the agency’s share could be about $6,000 per year but said the final number will depend on participant count. Staff said they will bring cost proposals and the final budget back to the board for adoption at the September meeting.
Next steps: staff will provide a cash‑flow projection and return with proposed scopes and cost estimates for the periodic evaluation and any required model work at the next meeting.
