By Joel Hastings
The meeting of the Madera GSA Committee was called to order at 1:32 p.m. in the county office building in Madera. New supervisor board chair Robert Macaulay had the gavel and he was joined by Jordan Wamhoff, new chair pro tem., who led the salute to the flag. These two supervisors are the committee for the year ahead.
Public comment was invited for items not on the agenda and Mark Peters, local farmer, came to the microphone saying he wanted to talk about subsidence. He said subsidence mitigation needs to be surgical and growers don’t know where that’s going to be. He urged
three points be considered before plans are finalized. First, he said when specific areas are fallowed, he hoped the sustainable yield and transitional waters do not go away. He said he hoped growers are given plenty of time because they are often dealing with long term crops – trees – as well as leases that are in place often for many years. He said finally, how fast do we want to put our plan together. He said doing it promptly would be great if implementation is over a longer period. He continued saying if there won’t be much time given growers than finalizing a plan more slowly would be best. There were no other comments either in person or online.
Minutes of the November committee meeting were approved and then Water & Natural Resources Manager Stephanie Anagnoson give a detailed look back at what was done in 2025 and a look ahead at what’s on the docket for 2026. In the coming year, items to be implemented include recertification for all vendors of meter installation / calibration,
beginning the domestic well mitigation program, and publishing a summary of rules booklet. (Her slide set for this presentation as well as the next ones referenced below appear on the Departments website… https://www.maderacountywater.com/county-gsa-committee/ The entire proceeding with video and audio recording is also available online. It’s also important to note that action taken here with approval by both committee members means that these items will be presented to the full board of supervisors acting as the board of the GSA, usually at the next meeting the following week.
Here Wamhoff asked how the newly released subsidence handbook from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will impact local plans. He said it looked like DWR is saying subsidence must be stopped now, not just by 2040. Wamhoff claimed they are “moving the goal posts.” Anagnoson said we are in a hotspot with subsidence as much as 12 inches a year and when the state changes the rules it can be very frustrating.
Amy Stanfield was recognized online with her question… now that we have an allocation, are there any plans for a water market for growers? There is nothing specific at this point.
Moving on with new business several department staffers presented the next items with Emily Garcia leading off explaining and recommending that an amount of $26,120 be transferred to a refund account, an overpayment to be returned to a landowner who had appealed successfully. This was approved by the two committee members and it was explained items like this on the supervisors’ agenda are routine and typically appear on the consent agenda.
Jacinta Cabral presented information that the Prop 68 Chowchilla Subbasin round 1 funding is exempt from CEQA and that it can be approved for funding the construction along the Chowchilla Bypass. With public comment, Scott Menefee, a Chowchilla grower, expressed concern that this project was not going to include a necessary turnout to be used by him and several other landowners. It was explained that his involvement was for the Round 2 project, not this one, and that Anagnoson would work with him and his engineers to address his concern. So, the Round 1 project was approved.
Aleta Allen presented the recommendation that the MOU be approved for seven-party sharing the $102,100 cost of the preparation of the subbasin annual report. Mark Peters asked if the report would include how many acres have been fallowed. The reply was that this report wouldn’t. The MOU was approved.
With Leticia Tapia presenting, there was approval that Davids Engineering would prepare the report to be completed by March 31 for that amount. Macaulay asked about land fallowing and Anagnoson said it was not part of the report but that those figures would be compiled by her department.
A three-year contract with Davids Engineering for implementing grower accounting services for both flow meters and Hydrosat figures was approved in an amount not to exceed $927,000. Tutka Phetasa was the presenter of this information. Wamhoff asked about cost savings, noting that using only one satellite service was a significant savings. Speaking online, Devin Aviles of Agri-World suggested that bringing the accounting in house at some point would represent another source of savings. After this discussion, this item was approved.
Ms. Allen returned to the podium to provide the status of selecting an accounting platform. A questionnaire had been sent to growers asking for their preference among three potential vendors with an option for none at all. Responses were sorted by parcel numbers, by
acreage and by farm units. Staff reported the results showed significant opposition to having a platform with the top choices also not clear. The staff recommendation is to wait until fall and then reconsider.
Macaulay said it seems like smaller farmers are less likely to want this technology even though it could be beneficial. Agri-World’s Aviles said he agreed with Macaulay’s comments and that growers could be shown how they might benefit. Also online, Erik Rodriguez, a small-farm specialist at UC Extension, offered to join any educational efforts. Mark Peters said he is not against a platform but expressed concern it would not be used by enough growers to make it cost effective. He asked if staff could determine what that figure might have to be. Wamhoff wants to find out more about why growers are opposed. There was no action taken.
Two items regarding the domestic well mitigation program were presented by staffer Jered Weeks. First was an accounting process to allow $2.4 million collected for overdraft fees to be used for the program, Macaulay commented that there had been discussion of how to get these funds out the door to actually provide mitigation. Mark Peters asked where these funds were coming from and Weeks said from overdraft fees paid by landowners who exceeded their allocations. The accounting procedures were approved.
Next, Weeks presented updated and completed rules for the program. Macaulay said some of the new revisions were required by public contracting laws. Wamhoff asked what the cost is for evaluating a dry well for approval. Anagnoson said it is on an hourly basis including work with a professional geologist. She said the county has a contract with the landowner and the landowner contracts with a well driller of choice from an approved list. Online, Erik Rodriguez asked about language translations for the rules and application form. The rules were approved.
Finishing up the meeting, Anagnoson briefly reported on Hydrosat training for growers, the precipitation outlook and the USDA NIFA grant conference. With no other business or discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 2:51 p.m.
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Madera County is composed of three subbasins, designated by the CA Department of Water Resources as critically overdrafted, and “high priority”: (1) the Chowchilla Subbasin; (2) the Madera Subbasin; and (3) a portion of the Delta-Mendota Subbasin. Each of these subbasins submitted a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) by January 31, 2020. These subbasins are required to achieve “sustainability” by the year 2040. The method by which sustainability will be achieved will be illustrated in the GSP, which was be drafted in partnership by the irrigation district, water districts, cities and Madera County. The Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) is administered by the Madera County Department of Water and Natural Resources: Stephanie Anagnoson, Director, 200 W. Fourth Street, Madera, CA 93637, (559) 675-7703 x. 2265 or (559) 675-6573. The County of Madera Board of Supervisors is the Board of Directors of the GSA for the three subbasins. The current board is composed of five members: Leticia Gonzalez, Robert Macaulay, Robert Poythress, David Rogers and Jordon Wamhoff..
The Madera Subbasin’s DWR # is 5-022.06
