Monitoring update: DWR-funded gauges installed but drilling constraints mean fewer wells than planned

Staff and consultants told the We Do Creek GSA on March 19 that progress continues on a Department of Water Resources-funded monitoring-network enhancement but that schedule and cost constraints will reduce the number of new wells installed under the grant.

Ryan Fulton of Larry Walker Associates said the enhancement originally planned for 15 shallow wells, three multicompletion wells and five stream gauges. Five stream gauges are going in as planned and began collecting data; drilling began recently but crews encountered cobble at one planned shallow site and moved to the next priority location. Fulton said the team expects to complete roughly four or five shallow wells and one multicompletion well under the grant’s schedule and budget.

The team prioritized sites to close critical data gaps—near streams, groundwater-dependent ecosystems and planned management-action locations—and prepared designs and specs for additional wells that could be drilled if future grant funding becomes available. Shallow wells were estimated to be about 100 feet deep.

Board members asked how many data gaps remain and whether monitoring shortfalls would force fee increases; staff said the current monitoring installs and grant awards have positioned the basin to maintain required reporting, but additional project-specific work could require extra funding or a Proposition 218 process if it becomes a broader infrastructure ask.

Next steps: finish grant deliverables by March 31, continue data collection from new gauges, and pursue additional funding to complete remaining wells and close data gaps.