By Joel Hastings
The newest member of the Chowchilla Subbasin GSP Advisory Committee, Karun Samran, as chair, called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. on December 14, 2023, at the Chowchilla Water District offices in that village. He has just begun his term as a board member of the 
Chowchilla Water District and was sitting in for Kole Upton, president of the CWD board and chair of the committee. The dozen or so folks in the room introduced themselves, observed by another 15 online.
With no agenda changes and no public comment, a quorum was declared and the minutes of the June 5 meeting were approved. Samran then called on John Davids of Davids Engineering to speak about preparation of the Subbasin GSP water year 2023 annual report. He opened his PowerPoint presentation confirming that for this project he was leading the staff of his firm, and that Pete Leffler would continue to head the team at Luhdorff & Scalmanini. He said that SGMA requires GSAs to submit an annual report by April 1 of each year. The report is to include information about groundwater conditions, surface water systems and a water budget and a summary of GSA projects underway or completed.
Davids said the work would be completed via six tasks or categories to provide the required detail. He said this work had begun in October and would be completed by the end of February, allowing this committee and the GSA boards to review the draft in March. The final report is to be ready for submittal by March 27.
The proposed contract fees total $57,924 plus up to $40,000 for additional consulting through October 2024, if and as needed. In response to a question from Samran, he said this is $5,000 more than the figure for preparing last year’s report.
During his presentation of 13 slides, he said he was sorry that Kole Upton was not able to attend the meeting, because this is one of his shortest reports, which he thought Kole would appreciate. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Committee unanimously recommended that the contract be submitted to the GSAs for approval and execution. (The Committee cannot act, only advise.)
Davids recalled for the group that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) on March 2, 2023, issued an inadequate determination for the GSP as originally submitted. This put the plan in the hands of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), along with five GSPs from other GSAs in the Central Valley, all significantly over drafted and all potentially subject to probationary hearings. This reporter expects Kole would have appreciated this report. At every Chowchilla WD GSA meeting this year, Kole is insistent on learning about progress to get the GSP approved.
Davids recounted how revisions had been drafted to address the areas of concern… water measurements, subsidence and interconnected waterways. He described meetings held through the spring and summer with this committee, the Chowchilla Subbasin GSA boards and SWRCB officials. Information was presented informally in order to get an indication from SWRCB staff if the revisions would be approved.
The goal is to return to the control of the DWR without a hearing. Davids said he was told in a meeting with SWRCB officials as recently as December 5 that the board was working on such a pathway but would not have it until mid-January at the earliest. In the
meantime, the officials do want more information about the domestic well mitigation program which is underway in the subbasin. Davids plans to submit this detail immediately. Davids said that to his knowledge, the Chowchilla Subbasin GSAs are the only ones in the state to have submitted draft revisions to address the original inadequate finding.
As an item of dishttp://www.aqua4d.uscussion, speaking from Zoom, Geoff Vanden Heuvel of the Milk Producers Council, said that he had observed the SWRCB review of the Tulare Lake subbasin. He said only the officially submitted information as of July 2022, was being considered, not informal discussion items and work completed but not documented since then.
Davids noted that while Chowchilla does not seem to be at the top of the pecking order – that “honor” goes to Tulare Lake – the comments are certainly relevant. Davids concluded by saying if feedback is received revisions will be submitted formally and promptly. 
He said he had just learned that the SWRCB has announced a meeting will be held next week on December 19 in Sacramento and available electronically. The agenda indicates there will be consideration of probationary hearings for the six Subbasins. But the agenda also includes this item… “There will be discussion of potential processes GSAs can use to exit Chapter 11 of SGMA.”
With little further discussion, Chair Samran declared the meeting adjourned at 3:26 p.m.
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The Chowchilla Subbasin exists within the larger San Joaquin Valley Groundwater basin, as described in the California Department of Water Resources Bulletin 118. The County of Madera is the exclusive GSA for the portion of the Chowchilla Subbasin in the unincorporated area of the County, and not otherwise covered by another public agency. Other GSAs in the Chowchilla Basin include Chowchilla Water District, Triangle T Water District and Merced County.
