To: Board of Supervisors and Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office, Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: Travis Shenk, (707) 565-1269; Marcus Trotta, (707) 547-1978
Vote Requirement: Informational Only
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Sonoma County Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and Use of County Funding Update
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Provide an informational update on the activities of the Petaluma Valley, Santa Rosa Plain, and Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) including an overview of the use of County funding in the Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley basins.
end
Executive Summary:
The purpose of this item is to provide a staff update to the Board of Supervisors and Sonoma Water Board of Directors (Board) on activities of the three Sonoma County GSAs, including the use of funds provided by the County to the Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley GSAs to support equalizing fees for groundwater users in all areas of the county required to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Act). In addition, staff will present an update on GSA funding sources and successes, grant funding, and groundwater sustainability plan approvals; and discuss the challenges facing the GSAs in the coming years.
Discussion:
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
California was the last state in the west to regulate groundwater management. Prior to regulation, groundwater levels across the state were in decline in response to droughts and climate change driven weather changes, along with unsustainable extraction rates. In response, in 2014 the Governor signed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Act), which identified high- and medium-priority groundwater basins that were required to form GSAs that would develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans to sustainably manage groundwater. The purpose of these plans and of these agencies is to ensure that groundwater is managed in a way that ensures it is available now and in the future for people, farms, and the environment while avoiding undesirable impacts.
In compliance with the Act, three GSAs were created in June 2017 in the Petaluma Valley, Santa Rosa Plain, and Sonoma Valley. As signatories to the Joint Powers Authority agreements that created the GSAs, a representative from the Board of Supervisors and a representative from the Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) Board of Directors serve on each GSA Board of Directors. Early on, the County, Sonoma Water, and other member agencies provided financial and in-kind staff resources to support the GSAs and the development of the state-mandated Groundwater Sustainability Plans (Plans).
In December 2021, the GSA Boards of Directors adopted Plans for all three basins. Subsequent to Plan adoption, the three GSAs conducted a Joint Request for Proposal soliciting the provision of management services for the GSAs. In June 2022, West Yost Associates, Inc. (West Yost) was selected to oversee administration of all three GSAs, thus consolidating administration services under one entity, with the goal of increasing efficiency and reducing duplicative efforts in managing the three basins.
In July 2022, each basin adopted a groundwater user fee. Due to differences across the three basins in volume of groundwater extraction with similar costs of regulatory compliance, the groundwater user fee ranged across the basins from $40 to $147 per acre-foot of groundwater extraction. In order to keep fees equal across the county during the initial phase of implementation, the Board of Supervisors approved $1.5 million of funding during the 2022-23 County Budget Hearings for the Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley GSAs for two years to equalize fees with the rate adopted by the Santa Rosa Plain GSA of $40 per acre foot of estimated or actual groundwater pumped. $500,000 was allocated for Fiscal Year 2022-23 and $1 million for Fiscal Year 2023-24.
RECENT GSA ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since establishment in 2017, the three Sonoma County GSAs have conducted extensive stakeholder outreach, undertaken technical studies to create a hydrogeology model and water balance for the basin, and developed implementation plans for achieving sustainability. These efforts elevated community understanding on the state of groundwater conditions and the need to manage the resource for the future. As part of this effort, the GSA’s have developed an interactive publicly available well registration program that has improved the County’s and the GSA’s understanding of groundwater use. In the future, groundwater users will also benefit as the GSAs implement funded programs for water use efficiency, groundwater recharge, and increased recycled water use.
Within the past year, and including support of the County contribution, the GSAs have accomplished the following:
• Approval by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) of all three Plans. At the time of approval, DWR had approved only 12 of 54 Plans reviewed across California and three of them were the Sonoma County plans. Plan approval has allowed the GSAs to focus staff time and limited resources on implementation rather than rewriting or substantially amending the Plans.
• Implementation of groundwater sustainability fees across all three basins including coordination with the County Assessor’s Office, direct billing of tax exempt groundwater users, launch of the Groundwater Users Information Data Exchange (GUIDE) program and evaluation of potential fee corrections through GUIDE surveys, extensive public engagement and technical analysis regarding public fee inquiries, development of forms and processes for appeals, issuance of refunds, and preparations for the 2023-2024 fees. No fee appeals have been received thus far by the Sonoma County GSAs.
• Completion of three GSA Grant Proposals for Plan Implementation to DWR for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Program. These proposals included funding for aquifer system assessments, water use efficiency programs, monitoring network expansion, voluntary groundwater monitoring programs, groundwater recharge planning, recycled water planning and expansion, outreach and stakeholder engagement programs, and more. The Petaluma Valley and Santa Rosa Plain GSAs’ applications were awarded full funding ($6.7 million and $5.4 million, respectively). Sonoma Valley’s application was originally not recommended for funding. However, a successful effort by GSA staff to coordinate with partners, member agencies, and local stakeholders to request that DWR reconsider its draft funding recommendation led to the Sonoma Valley application receiving $3.1 million. With these awards, the GSAs have successfully leveraged local funding to bring in more than $21 million in grant funding for groundwater sustainability in Sonoma County.
• Coordination with Permit Sonoma and other partner organizations to refine and expand the voluntary groundwater-level monitoring program within the three basins and surrounding areas to help fill data gaps, to form a Voluntary Groundwater-level Monitoring Subcommittee with representatives from the three Sonoma County GSAs, to develop monitoring protocols, reporting, and data management processes; and to develop outreach materials.
• Initial development of an approach for addressing data gaps related to interconnected surface water and groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
• Development and presentation of preliminary policy options within the authorities of the GSAs and local land use agencies that support and advance achieving the sustainability goals for the groundwater basins. Policy options are aimed at reducing groundwater demands, filling data gaps, aligning with existing policies at the County and local levels, improving management of groundwater resources, and protecting beneficial users.
• Participated in the County well permit review process as required through Governor’s Executive Order N-7-22 (issued on March 28, 2022, and which requires GSA review of wells in medium- and high-priority basins), and subsequently through participation in the development of the County’s Well Ordinance Amendment. Ongoing, the GSAs will closely coordinate with Permit Sonoma on implementation of the ordinance amendment, including data gaps/monitoring, modeling, water conservation requirements, and zero-net increase standards.
• Coordination with GSA member agencies and partners on advancing the planning and implementation of projects that improve water supply resiliency and groundwater sustainability, including recycled water projects and aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) investigations.
• Engaged stakeholders through seven public meetings in each basin, publishing a widely distributed quarterly e-newsletter, and participating and presenting at statewide conferences.
GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN FINDINGS
Compared to the critically over-drafted groundwater basins in the Central and San Joaquin valleys, the three Sonoma County basins are in better condition - but still face significant challenges (particularly in the high-priority Sonoma Valley Subbasin). There are data gaps in all three basins, especially regarding the relationship between groundwater pumping and the depletion of interconnected creeks and streams. In Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley, data is limited in the southern portions of the basins, where pumping of groundwater could contribute to seawater intrusion. More complete information is available on groundwater levels, although gaps exist in specific areas in all basins, particularly near the basin borders.
Based on existing information, the Petaluma Valley Plan found that groundwater conditions are projected to remain sustainable; however, this finding recognizes the significant data and information gaps. The Santa Rosa Plain Plan found that groundwater conditions are currently sustainable, but they are projected to require projects and management actions to remain sustainable in the future. The Sonoma Valley Plan found that groundwater conditions in the deep aquifer are unsustainable now and into the future unless projects and management actions are implemented.
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND BUDGETS
The implementation schedules in the three basins for the next several years focus on closing data gaps, pre-project planning and studies, initial implementation of projects, annual reporting, monitoring, improvements to groundwater models, preparation of the required five-year plan update, and stakeholder engagement and communication. All the tasks are requirements by the Act or are needed to implement the Plans.
Through the recent Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program, the Santa Rosa Plain and Petaluma Valley GSAs received full funding to implement their respective Plans ($5.4 million and $6.7 million, respectively), which covers most of the cost of implementation actions over the next two years. The Sonoma Valley GSA received partial funding ($3.1 million of the requested $10.2 million). The Sonoma Valley GSA is actively seeking other sources of grant funding, however with existing state budget shortfalls, the likelihood of GSA specific funding in the near term is unlikely and other funding options are highly competitive. The grant applications covered a number of high priority GSP implementation tasks including aquifer system characterization, design and construction for monitoring network expansion, voluntary groundwater monitoring programs, water use efficiency assessment and pilot programs, policy and program option assessments, recycled water planning, aquifer storage and recovery planning, stormwater capture and recharge planning, and outreach/engagement for all of these programs. In addition, the Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley GSAs applied for funding for partner recycled water expansion projects that would offset groundwater extraction.
Upon final grant awards, the GSAs revisited their five-year budgets and updated anticipated expenses through 2027. Attachment 1 outlines the estimated budget and funding sources of each GSA. The GSAs were able to secure more grant funding than was initially anticipated for priority tasks identified in the Plans, some of which were not fully considered in the initial 5-yr budget, so average annual budgets increased to ensure completion of work by the grant deadlines. Updated annual expenses for Fiscal Years 2024-25 through 2026-27 for each GSA are as follows: approximately $2.1 million for the Petaluma Valley GSA (63% of which is grant funded), approximately $2.3 million for the Sonoma Valley GSA (44% of which is grant funded), and approximately $2.7 million for the Santa Rosa Plain GSA (66% of which is grant funded). Some of grant funding received is for projects in coordination with other municipalities and not included in the annual GSA budget.
Grant funding is unable to cover costs associated with agency operations, general outreach, groundwater monitoring, and annual reporting. To control costs, wherever possible, GSA staff share study costs, Act compliance tasks, and grant applications and management between the basins. The completion and approval of the Plans by DWR and the adoption of the fees has also allowed the GSAs to significantly reduce the number of Board and Advisory Committee meetings. This, combined with the transition to a single administrative entity, has resulted in efficiencies and streamlined services. Despite these efficiencies, grant funding and groundwater sustainability fees of $40 per acre foot are unable to cover the full costs of agency operations and Plan implementation.
COST AND FUNDING FOR GSA ADMINISTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN CALIFORNIA
For the purposes of this Board update, staff reviewed available information for similar sized GSAs across California about how GSA budgets are funded. In summary, for the data obtained, funding sources and amounts vary and can be influenced by the size and complexity of the groundwater basin. Counties are often member agencies to JPAs or serve as the lead agency for GSAs. In other cases, irrigation districts or cities take the lead. Statewide, many GSAs have not yet adopted fees to fund the agencies, with the Sonoma County GSAs being leaders amongst small and mid-sized GSAs. Where fees have not been adopted, many GSAs are funded by member agencies as agencies work to develop fees for more sustainable funding. Of the 14 GSAs reviewed by staff, 50 percent were totally or partially funded by counties; 64 percent received total or partial funding from cities or irrigation districts; and 21 percent were totally or partially funded through taxes/fees.
SONOMA COUNTY GSA CHALLENGES GOING FORWARD
Even though all three Sonoma County GSAs have adopted fees for groundwater use, there are significant challenges ahead. While fees provide significant funding for the three GSAs, they will need to rely heavily on grants and other sources to fully implement Plans and implement projects needed to achieve sustainability. In addition, with the County funding in place only to the end of this fiscal year, the fees in the three GSAs could be different in the future, creating significant disparities across the three basins between similar groundwater users. Without County funding or another funding source, the Sonoma Valley fees would need to rise to more than $128 an acre foot to fund the annual GSA budget, representing a more than 220% increase.
The Petaluma Valley fees could rise to more than $213 per acre foot, representing a potential 432% increase over the current fee. It is likely that fee increases of these magnitudes would receive a negative public response and financially impact rural residents and businesses within these basins. Absent County funding or other funding sources, the GSAs will need to significantly increase fees and/or reduce implementation actions, which could result in the GSAs missing key deadlines outlined in the Act for achieving sustainability and could lead to increased impacts to groundwater users. Attachment 2 shows the estimated annual cost by property with and without a County Contribution to subsidize the fees.
ALTERNATE FUNDING MECHANISMS
The GSAs are open to investigating potential alternative funding sources. When appropriate, the GSAs will seek to partner with the County to consider polling, funding research, and analysis towards achieving a broader funding base to support the basins. Absent new funding mechanisms GSAs will need to either significantly increase fees or reduce implementation actions if member agencies do not provide additional funding.
Prior Board Actions:
06/17/2022: As part of FY 22-23 Budget hearings, approved two-year County support for Groundwater Sustainability Plans in Petaluma Valley and Sonoma Valley basins.
11/16/2021: Received update on Groundwater Sustainability Plans for the three basins.
04/06/2021: Authorized the General Manager of Sonoma Water to amend agreements with GSAs to provide technical, outreach, and grant-writing services, and to negotiate, execute and amend agreements with subconsultants for hydrogeologic support services; Authorized the General Manager of Sonoma Water and County of Sonoma Permit and Resource Management Department’s Director to execute an agreement for management of groundwater information.
05/21/2019: Authorized the County to contribute funding of up to $200,000 annually and Sonoma Water to contribute funding up to $40,000 annually to Santa Rosa Plain GSA through fiscal year 2021-22.
12/04/2018: Authorized the General Manager of Sonoma Water to enter into agreements with GSAs to provide technical, outreach, and grant-writing services, and to negotiate and execute agreements with subconsultants for hydrogeologic support services.
04/25/2017: Approved the formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and authorized the General Manager of Sonoma Water to enter into agreements with each Sustainability Agency to provide technical, outreach, and grant-writing services.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 23-24 Adopted |
FY24-25 Projected |
FY 25-26 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$1,000,000 |
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$1,000,000 |
|
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
$1,000,000 |
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$1,000,000 |
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Consistent with the FY 2022-23 Budget Hearings and set aside funding, the County will provide $1 million to Sonoma Valley and Petaluma Valley GSAs in FY 2023-24 in order to allow user fees to be $40/AF, so as to allow all GSA user fees to be consistent across basins. Currently no County funding is committed beyond FY 2023-24.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - 3 Year Budget Projection
Attachment 2 - Estimated Annual Cost by Property
PowerPoint Presentation
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.