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State Water Resources Control Board details $38.3 million water-rights fee-setting budget, flags admin cost drivers
Summary
Board staff presented a $38.3 million fee-setting budget for fiscal 2025–26 and a roughly $39.2 million proposal for 2026–27, citing employee-compensation increases, a CalEPA consolidated administration BCP and processing costs as primary drivers; updated fee estimates are expected at the June meeting.
Cassandra White, fee and revenue branch manager with the State Water Resources Control Board, presented the agency’s fee-setting budget and the main cost drivers during a virtual stakeholder meeting. She said the fee-setting budget for fiscal year 2025–26 is $38.3 million and that the governor’s January proposal for 2026–27 is about $39.22 million, an increase of $838,000 (2.2%).
White said the largest single driver is state operations, which rose by $734,000 (1.9%) and reflects employee compensation such as salaries, health care and retirement. Other identified drivers include a $515,000 (1.3%) change listed as prorate items and a modest $10,000 increase tied to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s invoice processing and collection work.
Staff noted a CalEPA consolidated administration budget change proposal (BCP) that would add permanent positions and reimbursement authority, with CalEPA requesting nearly $2.66 million that would be proportionally split across several waterboard funds. “The waterboard’s total portion is nearly $1.7 million,” White said, and she quantified the water-rights fund share of that BCP as about $130,000, roughly 0.3% of the fund.
White cautioned that some data were not yet available in the January budget materials and explained staff will use May revised‑budget adjustments and final revenue figures for fiscal year 2024–25 to update the fund condition and fee calculations. “We anticipate during the May revised budget we will be able to use those documents to update this information and for the June stakeholder meeting we would provide cost drivers and fund condition which would include updated final revenue for fiscal year 24‑25,” she said.
Stakeholders asked how the percent changes would translate into billed fees. White responded that staff cannot yet predict exact fee impacts until incoming reporting and revised budget figures are processed. She and other staff committed to providing a more detailed breakdown of prior‑year expenses, position counts and categorical expenses to aid stakeholders’ budgeting and review.
The board’s materials referenced public‑records code sections 71121–71126 and included links to Department of Finance BCP documents for stakeholders seeking greater detail. Staff said the next stakeholder meeting is scheduled for June 12 and that updated fee estimates and fund‑condition information will be presented then.
The meeting ended after staff reiterated contact information for the water-rights fees inbox and thanked attendees for their participation.
