https://youtu.be/UTGyZbOaSPYBy Don A. Wright
The Kern Groundwater Authority Groundwater Sustainability Agency held its board of directors meeting on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 in Bakersfield and on Zoom,
thankfully. The agenda has Semitropic Water Storage District’s General Manager Jason Gianquinto giving a presentation on demand reductions. I don’t know for a fact but I’m guessing that’s not the most fun he’d going to have today.
The Meeting
Chairman Dan Waterhouse kicked it off at 8:00am on the dot with self-introductions and a salute to the flag of the greatest nation on earth. There was no public comment and Executive Director Patty Poire asked Gianquinto to describe how he’s dealing with overdraft at Semitropic. The entire subbasin is in overdraft and she wanted Gianquinto to show how SWSD’s landowners are coping.
Overdraft Report
Gianquinto said groundwater levels don’t tell the entire story. The Kern Subbasin has been in overdraft since the start of the 21st Century. The Measurable Objectives have been set at the 2015 groundwater levels. Minimum Thresholds are based on regional trends and can include the history of a parcel’s ability to recover. It would be so helpful for presenters to define their abbreviations even though the group being addressed is probably better versed in jargon than just about anyone – it wouldn’t hurt now and then to use the language to its fullest at least on first reference.
Gianquinto showed hydrographs to illustrate how groundwater levels don’t tell the whole story. Neither does spreadsheets and graphs full of enigmatic points. I don’t want this to come across as disrespectful to Gianquinto. He’s always been good to me and I’m sure he absolutely knows what he’s talking about but I didn’t understand a word of his presentation as long as he was referring to the spreadsheets and graphs I couldn’t read from a power point presentation.
He expects to reach an average sustainability by 2030. He said I believe, Semitropics’ banking program and favorable hydrology will lead to sustainability in an upward trend even if there are hiccups on groundwater levels. There were no questions so I guess that means I was the only one who didn’t understand the presentation fully. But I think Gianquinto was asking for patience from his neighbors and they should comply. SGMA, like Rome, wasn’t and won’t be built in 24-hours.
Audit & Financials
The minutes were approved then a representative of the ARH CPA firm of Bakersfield spoke about the audit. Although the agenda listed the firm as BHK. The audit report took 29 of the board packet’s 35 pages. I would have liked to have seen that kind of detail on
Gianquinto’s report included in the packet. The auditor said having North Kern Water Storage District stop keeping the books mid-stream presented what could have been a big challenge but he praised Poire and staff for their transparency and cooperation. The gentleman speaking said the KGA’s audit report is “clean” a rating as good as it gets. Once again there were no questions.
Poire gave the financial and accounts payable report. The board approved and will pay its bills. Good for them.
Attorney’s Report
The highlight of most KGA meetings for me is the report from attorney Valerie Kincaid. I often hear from her first – the topics and issues that embroil the water community in struggle. Nothing like a good head’s up on trouble brewing. To torture that metaphor (simile?) further, Kincaid’s reports are like a strong cup of coffee that kick starts the day. But not this day. She had nothing to say in open session.
Executive Director Report
Poire spoke about a cost share on a contract with Quad Knoff that was transferred to Rincon. She was asked to get the unspent money back from QK and somehow or other the split went from six entities to eight entities. The managers of KGA members asked Poire to simplify the process and just charge them less – the amount of the refund – on the next billing. If I’m wrong someone explain it to me.
Poire also spoke about a group she is participating in to discuss water rights and a new data system to help keep track.
New Business
There was no new business or correspondence and the meeting went into closed session for one item of potential litigation and one employee matter at 8:44am. Well, that was that. Go be good to each other and yourselves.
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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.
Staff: Patty Poire – Executive Director, Valerie Kincade – Attorney
The Kern Groundwater Authority membership:
Chair Dan Waterhouse – Semitropic WSD, Royce Fast – Kern County WA, Andrew Pandol – Kern Tulare WD, Kim Brown – Kern Water Bank Authority, , Gary Morris – West Kern WD & Rob Goff – Westside District Water Authority. Brandon Morris – Southern San Joaquin MUD, John Gaugel – Cawelo WD, Kevin Andrew – North Kern WSD, Gary Unruh – Rosedale Rio Bravo WSD, Randy Bloemhof – Shafter Wasco ID
DWR Listing: Basin San Joaquin, Sub Basin Kern 5-022.14
