Welcome! Included in this set of articles is information on the MID GSA, the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) development and, as a reminder, the direction of the MID GSA and what it means to you as a stakeholder. (Reminder, refer to the definitions at the bottom of this email for commonly used acronyms and terms related to groundwater management).

MID GSA PUTS TREMENDOUS EFFORT TOWARD GSP DEVELOPMENT AND REACHING SUSTAINABILITY

The MID GSA has been working diligently over the last several years in creating the foundation for the GSP it is a part of. MID has put forth thousands of hours toward the development of a GSP and related projects that are tangible and will create a true water balance for the MID GSA. MID GSA has already implemented a number of these projects and has plans for reaching sustainability in the near future.   MID GSA continues its partnership with the Madera County GSA, City of Madera GSA, and Madera Water District GSA in the development of a joint GSP. This GSP will encompass the majority of the acreage, population, and water supplies in the Madera Subbasin.  Madera Irrigation District, in conjunction with these partnering agencies, received a grant from California Department of Water Resources for $1.5 million to develop the GSP. $1.5 million is a significant amount of funding that the agencies (MID, Madera County, City of Madera, and MWD) and you, as an assessment or taxpayer in those agencies, do not have to fund; benefiting the Madera region and community.  The modeling efforts for the Madera Subbasin have begun and the release of GSP “Chapters” are anticipated to begin within a few weeks. Please stay tuned as there will be more opportunity for public review and participation through the release of GSP Chapters and further public workshops and meetings.

What type of projects will be included in the GSP for the MID GSA? As presented at the MID GSA meeting on October 16, 2018 and at the Madera Subbasin Technical Workshop on October 18, 2018, numerous projects have already been completed and programs established to augment water supplies since 2014 for the MID GSA. MID acquired property for a recharge facility, rehabilitated and began utilizing six (6) recharge basins located throughout the District, installed of over 12,000 feet of pipeline, completed system automation of over 50 sites, annexed the Madera Ranch (over 10,000 acres of grazing land), established an On-Farm Recharge Program, and acquired and imported additional surface water supplies in this four-year timeframe.  Plans for future projects and programs to achieve sustainability for the MID GSA include further enhancing grower programs such as the On-Farm Recharge program, additional recharge basin development, expanding partnerships with other water districts to increase supplies, and exploring new fee structures and incentive based programs for landowners.

AND, AS A REMINDER, THE MID GSA WILL BE MANAGED CONSISTENT WITH THE DISTRICT’S MISSION STATEMENT… The mission statement of Madera Irrigation District is to “obtain and manage affordable surface water and groundwater supplies in a manner which will ensure the long-term viability of irrigated agriculture in the District.” The MID Board of Directors are committed to this mission and have taken Board actions related to groundwater management in the MID GSA to uphold this mission for the landowners within the District. See below (as a reminder), how the MID GSA will be managed consistent with the mission of the District.

HOW WILL GROUNDWATER BE MANAGED IN THE MID GSA 

The answer is, the MID GSA will be taking a District-wide sustainability approach.

What in the world does a “District-wide sustainability approach” mean? It means that instead of monitoring, managing, and potentially restricting the groundwater extraction from every single privately owned well in the MID GSA (including each one of your individually owned wells), that the MID GSA will be managed as a whole and the calculations for inputs and extractions will be done at the District level, not the individual parcel level.

At the June 19, 2018 MID GSA meeting, the MID GSA Board of Directors (Board) gave direction that groundwater will be managed in the MID GSA at the District-wide level. With the water budget numbers for the MID GSA (see below), it was determined by the Board that sustainability was achievable for the MID GSA at the District-level. The Board discussed other management options including a parcel by parcel approach in which individual landowners would be required to meter, monitor, report, and balance their groundwater and, if individual landowners failed to comply or reach sustainability, they could be subject to enforcement actions by the MID GSA and/or the State of California. This parcel-level management would then have to be applied to the almost 5,000 parcels within the MID GSA, at huge cost and expense to our landowners .     The benefits of District-level management, on the other hand, include reduced cost to landowners in the MID GSA, reduced monitoring and reporting requirements for individual landowners, and less invasion of privacy for landowners. Additionally, enforcement actions for individual landowners related to groundwater in the MID GSA should be exceedingly rare.

WATER BUDGET NUMBERS and WHAT THEY MEAN TO ME AS A STAKEHOLDER IN THE MID GSA 

At the MID GSA meeting on May 15, 2018 preliminary water budget numbers were released. MID GSA’s consultant, Carollo Engineers, Inc., has determined that the MID GSA is currently operating close to sustainably .

What does “operating close to sustainably” mean to me as a stakeholder in the MID GSA? Operating close to sustainably means that that overall, on average, with today’s cropping patterns and land use there is very little overdraft and, in some years, a positive contribution to the groundwater aquifer in the MID GSA.

MID GSA groundwater sustainable yield number, in conjunction with MID’s surface water supplies, creates an almost balanced groundwater situation in the MID GSA with current cropping patterns and land use.

MID GSA groundwater yield + MID surface water supplies = MID GSA is close to balanced

If I’m in the MID GSA and an “almost balanced situation” currently exists, then why does my well continue to drop? Carollo Engineers has concluded that this is most likely occurring due to external pumping (pumping of groundwater in the Madera Subbasin, but outside of the MID GSA ).

So, if I am in the MID GSA, will I have to install meters on all of my existing wells and start reporting all of my pumping? No, at this time with District-wide sustainability approach, the MID GSA will not be requiring landowners to individually meter, monitor, nor report their groundwater extraction (pumping).

We appreciate that you have subscribed to the MID GSA email distribution list and are becoming better informed on groundwater topics in the Madera area. This set of articles is meant to update you on the progress and direction of the MID GSA specifically. If you would like more information on the Madera Subbasin in general, please visit   www.maderacountywater.com .

View the interactive map to determine which GSA your land is in and which agency will be managing your groundwater, click here for map. Again,the information in this set of articles relate to land within the MID GSA

LEARNING THE LINGO Definitions: Aquifer - a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater. District - Madera Irrigation District or MID Overdraft - the condition of a groundwater basin in which the amount of water withdrawn by pumping exceeds the amount of water that recharges the basin. Sustainably - in a way that can be maintained at a certain rate or level. Key Acronyms in Groundwater Management SGMA - Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 DWR - California Department of Water Resources, the state agency tasked with assisting in implementing SGMA SWRCB - California’s State Water Resources Control Board, the state agency tasked with intervention and enforcement GSA - Groundwater Sustainability Agency GSP - Groundwater Sustainability Plan MID GSA - Madera Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainability Agency

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