Water sustainability update

By Fred Allebach – Special to the Sun

The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) held a public meeting on 6/30/16 at the Charter School to update the public on the State Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The main topic of conversation was process and progress on the formation of the new, state-law-required Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for the Sonoma Valley groundwater basin. The GSA will come on line as an active agency in one year.

The GSA will be a regulatory agency tasked with the goal of reaching groundwater sustainability. The baseline groundwater level for sustainability is the groundwater level as of December, 2015. The GSA board of directors will come from the six GSA eligible agencies in the Sonoma Valley groundwater basin, i.e. current basin agencies who control or manage water. These agencies are: City of Sonoma, Valley of the Moon Water District, North Bay Water District, Sonoma Resource Conservation District, County of Sonoma and the Sonoma County Water Agency.

On GSA formation, Supervisor Gorin said, “it’s going to be a challenging (and fun) conversation.” She noted that we are into the “proverbial sausage making” stage now and that even though current actors may not be around for the end results, “we have a responsibility for the future,” to steward the groundwater resource.

Jay Jasperse, Chief Engineer of the SCWA, said that over the next several years ambiguities in SGMA will come out and be addressed. One participant mentioned that the GSA formation process, as well as the Groundwater Sustainability Plan process, due in 2022, is “going to be like the Wild West.” Many land use interests that depend on groundwater are at stake, and these interests will have to be balanced by SGMA, the state law calling for groundwater sustainability.

The SCWA had a list showing SGMA-required interested parties, which include: all categories of groundwater users, agriculture, domestic well users, municipal well operators and public water systems, Native American tribes, the county, planning and land use departments, local landowners, disadvantaged communities, business, federal government, environmental uses, and connected (to groundwater) surface water users.

From the standpoint of various interests –  vineyards, event centers, big developments, hotels etc., there is precedent for likely conflict the GSA will have to overcome to reach groundwater sustainability. Of note, the bulk of Sonoma Valley citizens are served by Russian River water piped in by the Sonoma County Water Agency via the Sonoma Aqueduct.

Peter Bruland, administrative analyst of the County Administrators Office, has been working with Groundwater Sustainably Agency eligible staff to craft the governing parameters of the GSA, including board representation, voting, and composition and role of the advisory board. Board representation is proposed to be one representative from each GSA-eligible agency, either an elected rep or an appointed board/ council member, but not staff. One vote per GSA-eligible entity will be permitted.

A current staff proposal for the GSA advisory board composition would be: six at-large members appointed by the six GSA eligible agencies and five interest-based members, representing the environment, rural residential well owners, the business community, ag interests and an at-large representative. The public suggested adding to the interest-based members, an independent science-based view, a land use expert and a disadvantaged community member. The public, and also a letter from the Sonoma County Water Coalition, suggested that a super majority of the GSA board would be required to overturn an advisory board recommendation, or that a written rationale would be required, as modeled on advisory board rules of the Sonoma County Ag and Open Space District.

Funding and staffing are under consideration. The GSA will have the authority to assess fees and other substantial regulatory authorities.

Also discussed was how to fold the many years of work of the voluntary Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Program, and its Technical Advisory Committee and Basin Advisory Panel, into the regulatory GSA.