The SGMA Weekly

This week the Department of Water Resources is treating subsidence as "irreparable harm" requiring immediate action — a stance shift surfaced at three different boards this week (Chowchilla, North Kern, Omochumne Hartnell). The California Water Commission lifted Sites Reservoir's conditional funding ceiling to $1.36 billion as a September water-rights decision looms. The State Water Board is floating a $200,000 application fee just to request a basin exclusion — comments due July 10. Plus: Pajaro Valley and Desert Water Agency rate decisions hitting binding action, San Antonio Basin enforcement letters going out, the Tulare Lake sub-basin consolidating to a single state liaison, federal "One Big Beautiful Bill" money landing on Delta-Mendota Canal repairs, and conjunctive-use recharge gaining momentum across three different boards.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your districtAI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

McMullin Area GSA's Proposition 218 election just passed in a landslide to fund a $56M flood capture expansion. The Bureau of Reclamation announced $176M in fresh Aging Infrastructure awards for the Delta-Mendota Canal and O'Neill Pumping Plant, with a $37.5M Kiewit contract approved to start the first canal subsidence fix. And a federal letter to DWR just opened up the larger ~$3B California Aqueduct Subsidence Program cost-share fight. Plus: White Wolf sharpens subsidence rules along the Aqueduct, Salinas Valley faces an August DWR deadline on a controversial brackish project, snowpack collapses to 6% of normal, and federal grant paperwork lags the cash.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

DWR raised the State Water Project allocation from 30% to 45% on May 15 and Reclamation lifted the CVP South-of-Delta agricultural allocation from 20% to 25% — but statewide groundwater storage still declined by roughly 1.5 million acre-feet in Water Year 2025, with 83% of extractions concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley. Pajaro Valley, Omochumne Hartnell, and Mound Basin all surfaced selective cost-relief signals for ratepayers this week, while Southwest Kings GSA stayed implementation of its allocation policy to close out-of-county and carryover loopholes ahead of a coordinated Tulare Lake single-GSP push targeting Q1 2027. Plus the Prop 4 Climate Bond ($368M statewide, no local match) starts driving real grant-prep across agencies, and the next wave of SGMA fee adoptions and Prop 218 hearings rolls through Yolo, Wyandotte Creek, Mound Basin, Desert Water Agency, Pajaro Valley, and South Fork Kings.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

The State Water Board's denial of the remaining Tule Subbasin exclusion requests is opening into a deeper audit — state officials are now questioning local agencies' 34-year rolling precipitation averages, native sustainable yield calculations, and recharge-credit treatment, which could force structural changes to Basin Safe accounting in coming years. Porterville staff also reported the state is backing off the May 1 GEARS penalty after acknowledging a platform bug that doubled extraction totals for many manual filers (no formal State Water Board notice yet — sourced to PID staff). Plus: Kings and Kaweah growers face a compressed irrigation season with Kings River runoff in the mid-40% range, Mid-Kaweah pushes mandatory well registration with an October 31 target deadline, and the Prop 4 funding cycle starts pulling agencies into project-list mode while modeling and consulting costs become budget pressure points across subbasins.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

The State Water Resources Control Board voted 5-0 to deny all eight Tule Sub-basin GSA exclusion requests, citing water-budget gaps over 50 percent of total diversions, subsidence risks, and weak well-mitigation programs. In response, eleven of thirteen GSAs committed to developing a single unified GSP. DWR's April 1 snow survey came in at the second-lowest on record (only 2015 was lower), and the Kings River Water Association is now forecasting April-July runoff at just 46-60 percent of average. A wave of spring fee hearings is hitting calendars — Paso Robles' $22.28-per-acre-foot fee report, San Benito County's projected $0.60-per-acre groundwater management fee, Santa Clara Valley's South County production charge increases, and Diablo Water District's previously-noticed Prop 218 ceiling — all with action coming in May or June. Plus a $500,000 emergency response to golden mussels in the Cross Valley Canal.Read the full recaps at gsa.waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

March 2026 shattered California temperature and drought records, wiping out snowpack and forcing districts to cut water runs short. Delta-Mendota exits state probation while Tule faces $12M in fees. And Salinas Valley modeling shows that even eliminating all ag pumping won't stop seawater intrusion by 2040.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

The State Water Board just recommended denying every exclusion request in the Tule and Tulare Lake subbasins — and the legal pushback is already starting. Plus, the CVP opens at just 15% with snowpack well below normal, and a half-billion-dollar federal funding package lands for California's most critical water infrastructure.Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district---AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

The Colorado River may be headed for its worst hydrology year on record, with inflows down nearly three million acre-feet since November. Meanwhile, $1.5 billion in federal funding for Central Valley Project infrastructure is described as imminent, and Mid-Kaweah GSA moves toward zeroing out allocations for growers who don't register their wells.Produced by WaterOne.ai — AI-powered coverage of every SGMA board meeting in California. Read full recaps and ask questions at waterone.ai.AI can make mistakes. Check important info.WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

Irrigation season kicks off in Turlock with a fourth consecutive year at full allocation, while Westlands braces for a tight CVP supply. New subsidence rules are adding cost and complexity for Tulare Lake GSAs, Colorado River negotiations remain stalled, and Paso Robles becomes the latest GSA to pivot to Prop 26 fees.Produced by WaterOne.ai — AI-powered coverage of every SGMA board meeting in California. Read full recaps and ask questions at waterone.ai.--- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.