By Joel Hastings
The GSA agenda of the Madera County board of supervisors began at 11:38 called to order by Chair Leticia Gonzalez. There were just two items on the agenda, both carried over from November – consideration of a domestic well mitigation program and the selection of a satellite service to be used by growers to measure water use.
Leading off was Stephanie Anagnoson, director of the department of water and natural resources and chief staffer for the GSA. Discussing the domestic well program, she first reviewed the questions that had been raised last month in light of the $35,000 per well mitigation being proposed. She said the rules being presented for the resolution this time included evaluation that a home be habitable with the drilling company to be paid directly by the county. She presented a list of what does not qualify such as problems with pumps, clogged screens, electrical, plumbing and landscaping. Water quality issues are also covered in other ways. Qualifying wells will be a total of some 250 on the Self Help Enterprises list, but going dry since 2020 and less than 30 years old. The program also assists homeowners with wells going dry beginning January 1, 2026 and onward.
Real Estate Liens
She once again reviewed the outreach activities that had been conducted with growers and home owners particularly in affected communities of Fairmead and the Ranchos. She said feedback from the board including property flipping, are addressed in the new application
form which requires the property to be owned for at least a year by the homeowner. If a property is sold within 12 months of mitigation, the full amount will be payable to the GSA. Fifty percent will be due if the sale occurs between 12 and 24 months. Each will be secured by a lien on the real estate. She also reviewed the formats of quarterly and annual reports that would allow the public to observe the program’s activities, results and costs.
With board comment invited, Supervisor Robert Macaulay thanked staff for the modifications and asked if the Self Help list of dry wells could be verified for age. The reply, the county requirements would supersede the list itself.
With public comment invited, local grower Mark Peters added his thanks for the changes. He asked how the homeowner would get the funds to reimburse the county. Online, Noah Lopez of the Madera Ag Water Association (MAWA – a grower group) also said the changes were appreciated.
Anagnoson said funds from the real estate sale proceeds would be used to remove the lien. With that, Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff had a number of comments about the possible unintended consequences to homeowners from such a lien. There was also some discussion about the county’s experience with lien placement in tax related issues, with the consensus being it would secure the GSA’s interests.
At just before 12 noon, the motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously on a roll call vote, putting in place the mitigation program, the funding, the rules and the detailed application form.
Eye in the Sky
Next up was consideration of the resolution to agree to a contract with Hydrosat (formerly Irriwatch) in an amount not to exceed $493,020 for a three-year period to supply satellite water measurement services to growers in the GSA. In presenting the background, Anagnoson pointed out that only the Madera GSA has offered two satellite services – Hydrosat and Land IQ. She said that this issue has been under consideration since early spring with public participation all along the way, and growers regularly saying they want the GSA to cut costs wherever possible.
She reviewed the questionnaire sent to growers that has been subject to lots of interpretation throughout these discussions, pointing out growers preferred Hydrosat by a ratio of two to one. Others suggest the numbers show a much more even split since many respondents opted to write in that their own certified wells are preferred. The results also show strong support for using only a single system and saving the considerable cost to the GSA of have two available.
Presenting charts showing costs, she showed that the Hydrosat contract for three years would be at the $493,000 included in the resolution, while the cost for Land IQ would be $611,260. Staff support for either is shown as $180,000 with a resulting savings if only one is used.
With questions from directors invited, Supervisor Wamhoff asked questions about several of the points that Land IQ had raised in a letter to the board. Anagnoson said costs for the two are comparable in terms of consultant support. She added both products do make adjustments in results during a water year as just part of what they do to be accurate. She said regarding staffing for the firms, that Land IQ is used for more in the Valley while Hydrosat is more global. She said the county does not have a preference but wants growers satisfied.
Supervisor David Rogers commented that both methods are based on science and both are accurate, and this is where we landed letting the growers choose – Hydrosat preferred two to one. Anagnoson added that looking at the response to the questionnaire, it was not a simple as each voting for the system he was using… there is more flexibility than that.
Mark Peters opened public comment with the suggestion that the directors think about approving Hydrosat as a single vendor but then save the money that might be spent on an accounting package, which also been part of the discussion. He said with that approach, the GSA charge per acre could be reduced from $26 to $23 and that the growers could and should receive that direct benefit. He said maybe do another survey and put that question to them… both systems at $26, one system and an accounting package also at $26, or just one system and no accounting with a resulting lower $23 charge.
Next, Joel Kimmelshue of Land IQ spoke, thanking the group for their consideration and pointing out the trust their many grower customers have in their results, the most important consideration. He said his firm takes seriously the obligation to provide service to all their growers.
Online, Jessica Johnson of the Clayton Water District said she wanted to be on the record that her organization supports Hydrosat as a single system and that an accounting platform would be useful eventually.
MAWA’s Lopez said his group was on the record for using both and that in reality the actual usage between the two systems is very close to the same.
Devin Aviles, grower, cooperative executive and MAWA leader said he wanted to reiterate what Peters had said, since virtually all of his members use meters, not satellite.
With no further comment, Rogers moved and Wamhoff seconded to approve the resolution for a contract with Hydrosat. The roll call vote was unanimous in favor. With that, Gonzalez adjourned the GSA board meeting and recessed the supervisors session for lunch at 12:25 p.m.
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Madera County is comprised 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, Letitia Gonzalez, Robert Macaulay, Robert Poythress, David Rogers and Jordon Wamhoff..
The Madera Subbasin’s DWR # is 5-022.06
