The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency meeting was held on Thursday, August 2, 2018 in Porterville at City Hall. I arrived a bit late to due to slower than expected traffic.* I’d tell you the story but I’ve got to catch up with the meeting. At best guess Chairman Eric Borba, Porterville Irrigation District called the meeting to order at the scheduled time of 2:00pm. I joined the meeting after the minutes were approved and any public comment was or was not made. They were in the administration portion of the agenda. Bryce McAteer is the new Executive Director and Shawn Geivet has joined the so far exclusive club of general managers who now have someone else to run the GSA. It was difficult to tell by looking at the back of his head (like I said I got there late so I sat towards the back) but Geivet seemed happier.
Under administration there were 10 separate items it was all about continuing setting up the ETGSA as a fully functional entity. Things like health coverage and an employee handbook. The items were all relevant and well received by the board and passed.
The next section was amendments to the JPA and bylaws. There were eight items in this category ranging from establishing a meeting location at the new ETGSA headquarters, establishing McAteer as secretary to the board and opening a bank account. Again the items were rational, well received and approved as needed. The bills were paid and the financial reports accepted.
The board was presented with a draft coordination agreement for the Tule River Sub Basin GSAs. This will be posted on the ETGSA website.
The board was presented with a draft of the policy points and were asked to give staff direction. No one recalled for old sure if these points were discussed. Attorney Aubrey Mauritson said the board could table this. The ETGSA has an organized white area group that wants to present some policy points of its own according to Director John Corkins. So, part of the items were tabled. A second set of policy points from the Stakeholder and Executive Committee and they were also tabled until the white area points have been received. Grower Bill Samarin had some comments but there was some confusion about the timing. Should they have been during public comment or at the agenda item that was tabled? Where’s Robert and his rules when you need him? Samarin is active in the white area group.
The next item dealt with posting a draft GSP creation timeline. The board wanted to review the draft before posting it. Corkins said he’d like the stake holder and executive committees to review the feasibility and bring it back to the board.
McAteer reported the stakeholder and executive committees held a join meeting last month. The topics were the general direction of the GSA, the GSP development and the Tule Sub Basin MOU group. The next item was a look at a draft of a proposed letter to go to each APN in the ETGSA. The letter invites them to become a part of the GSA process. There are 25,000 APNs in the GSA and the cost of mailing is more than a dollar per letter. The Stakeholder Committee members will be given an email address of the ETGSA’s address to preserve their privacy. Obviously, the owners of multiple APNs shouldn’t be receiving more than one letter. The City of Porterville and the irrigation districts can include the letter in their billing. The next meeting will be Thursday, September 6th at 881 W. Morton Ave, Suite D, Porterville California.
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 by Don A. Wright No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of DAW.
SGMA The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 calls for the formation of Groundwater Sustainability Areas within Basins and Sub-basins to develop Groundwater Sustainability Plans.
Eastern Tule GSA Bryce McAteer-Executive Director, Aubrey Mauritson-Attorney, Directors: Porterville Irrigation District Eric Borba-Chairman, Saucelito Irrigation District Steven Kisling-Vice Chairman, City of Porterville-Cameron Hamilton, Tea Pot Dome ID-Matthew Leider, Tulare County-Mike Ennis, Vandalia Water District-Curt Homes, Kern-Tulare Water District-Dyson Schneider, Terra Bella ID-Edwin “Lorren” Wheaton & White Area-John Corkins
