Title
Consider recommending the Board of Directors consider a Groundwater Monitoring Program Regulatory Fee Stabilization Policy. (Staff Presenting: Ara Azhderian)
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Finance and Administration Committee:
Recommend the Board of Directors consider a Groundwater Monitoring Program Regulatory Fee Stabilization Policy.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
In 2014, the California legislature enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) for the purpose of achieving and maintaining sustainability in the State’s groundwater basins. In the Monterey County portion of the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin (Basin), the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVB) is responsible for managing the preponderance of the Basin, in cooperation with other local entities, including the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (Agency). The SVB has prepared six Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) to address each subbasin within its jurisdiction.
For each GSP, SGMA requires the SVB to develop a monitoring network and describe the conventions necessary to establish and monitor Sustainable Management Criteria, which define the conditions that constitute groundwater sustainability, including characterizing undesirable results and establishing minimum thresholds and measurable objectives for each sustainability indicator. The monitoring networks were developed pursuant to the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 23 (23 CCR), Division 2, Chapter 1.5, Subchapter 2, Article 5, Sections 354.32 et seq More specifically, § 354.34 establishes the minimum requirements for a monitoring network, including:
§ 354.34 (a) Each Agency shall develop a monitoring network capable of collecting sufficient data to demonstrate short-term, seasonal, and long-term trends in groundwater and related surface conditions, and yield representative information about groundwater conditions as necessary to evaluate Plan implementation.
§ 354.34 ...
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