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Expert panel nears final report; State Water Board to review recommendations
Summary
The agricultural expert panel for the State Water Resources Control Board met May 27 to review public comments and finalize edits ahead of a June 5 plenary. Staff said the board will perform a technical evaluation before determining any regulatory action.
The State Water Resources Control Board's agricultural expert panel met May 27 to review public comments and refine its draft report, with a final plenary scheduled for June 5 in Sacramento. Sam McIll of Sacramento State, who is facilitating the panel, led introductions and a brief review of meeting history and next steps. Chief Deputy Director Karen Mogus of the State Water Resources Control Board thanked the panel for its work and said the board will carry the recommendations forward for a technical evaluation after the panel finalizes its report.
The panel's work in recent months has included plenary and work group meetings beginning in August 2025, two public listening sessions and a public workshop on April 10 in Sacramento. Panelists spent the May 27 session focused on responding to written public comments and resolving editorial and technical questions in the draft before the June 5 meeting, when the panel plans to consider a vote to approve the report and to hand the document to water board staff for final formatting and accessibility review.
Karen Mogus emphasized that the panel's scientific recommendations do not themselves become board action: "the State Water Board is going to initiate a technical evaluation of the recommendations," she said, and any subsequent action would be driven by board direction to staff. The State Water Board intends to include an informational item on the panel recommendations at its June 16 meeting, after which the board will determine next procedural steps.
If the panel approves additional edits at the June 5 plenary, staff said the edits would be made live during the meeting using a shared screen so the public can follow changes in real time. The panel and staff also agreed to circulate a clean, tracked version in advance of the plenary so members can focus on limited, high-priority edits and aim to finish the process at next week's meeting.
Looking ahead, staff and panelists noted the follow-on process will include additional public touchpoints typical of water board rulemaking and implementation, including regional coordination and possible technical advisory teams to help regional boards interpret and apply the panel's recommendations.
