At its regular meeting on October 1, 2024, the Madera County board of supervisors adopted a resolution approving a plan for an ag land repurposing program for the county. The overview of the Multibenefit Agricultural Land Repurposing Program was presented first by Stephanie Anagnoson, county director of the department of water and natural resources, who then introduced in turn speakers representing five other organizations that are partners in the grant, in addition to Madera County. These groups had participated in developing some of the plan specifications and in public outreach. The grant has a $7 million implementation budget for up to six projects with the goal of achieving 10,000 acre/feet of net water savings over a ten-year period. The mission is to assist growers seeking to convert irrigated ag land into a less water intensive use.
Anagnoson opened saying the county was one of ten agencies statewide that had received grant funds for this type of program from the Department of Conservation. She said several from the partner organizations would be presenting with her. She first introduced Noah Lopez of the Madera Ag Water Association who spoke about the qualifications of applicants, landowners in Madera County, who would propose projects with a duration of at least ten years.
Next, Charlotte Mitchell of the California Farm Land Trust described how projects might convert to crops requiring less water, create natural habitat or provide other benefits such as solar, recharge or community recreation.
Katie Carlson of the consulting firm Zanjero, said that a request for proposals will be issued on October 4 with a window for concept approval or pre-application by November 22. Then concepts approved will be provided with technical assistance in preparing final proposals which will be due by February 28. Then there is a scoring process with successful projects submitted to the DOC for review and approval.
Duncan McEwan of the ERA Economics consulting firm explained that payments and reimbursements can be made to landowners for direct implementation costs, foregone returns for land taken out of production and reimbursement for greater public benefit provided.
Reyna Rodriguez with Linguistica, who participated online due to a flat tire enroute, outlined the various multi-lingual outreach efforts with community based organizations while Christina Beckstead of Madera Farm Bureau described the activities to engage with active farmers in the county.
Amy Siliznoff of the Madera/Chowchilla Natural Resource Conservation District described what might be called a pilot project transitioning five acres of almonds and walnuts to pollinator habitat and hedgerow near the community of La Vina.
Anagnoson concluded saying this has been a “massive effort involving a lot of different agencies” and recommended the adoption of the program. With a brief favorable comment and a motion to approve from Supervisor David Rogers, the resolution was seconded and passed unanimously.
As the next item of business, the supervisors convened as the Madera GSA board to discuss and approve an adjustment in the process landowners must follow to appeal ag water use calculated by satellite under the allocation program. Previously, to support an appeal, a grower needed to provide photos of monthly readings from professionally installed meters. With this change, online recordings of meter readings via telemetry may be used as an option instead of photos. Access to the property and to wells by county staff or consultants is still required.
Anagnoson and the supervisors termed this change “grower friendly.” In response to a supervisor’s question, she said that access to growers’ farms is often invited. She said designated staff have a group of farms to work with, thereby establishing personal relationships to assist with other questions. Anagnoson added that there have only been six appeals and two of them are from the same grower.
Water issues concluded with approval of letters to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Governor’s office asking for increased water for the Central Valley.
Earlier in the meeting, Rusty Lantsberger, the county commissioner of agriculture, presented the annual crop and livestock report. The total value of farm products in the county had a gross value of over $1.8 billion. He said that wet, cool weather in 2023 had affected nut production resulting in a decrease in value from the year before of some $161 million. Almonds remain the number one crop followed by milk, pistachios and grapes. Land in permanent crops totaled 275,000 acres, continuing a slight decline from a peak in 2020. As an additional business item, Lantsberger was appointed to another four-year term.
Survey Creates Reaction
At the Madera GSA meeting held September 17, 2024, the Madera County Board of Supervisors heard Anagnoson present results from a survey of 230 growers in the Madera GSA, primarily the “white area” in the county. According to the board, the survey had been intended to find the preference among growers for per acre rates to fund various levels of projects showing a resulting allocation of sustainable yield in 2040.
Currently in place, the rate is $246 per acre to fund a wide range of current and proposed projects, approved by the now contested 218 vote.
The survey showed possible options at different costs: Option #1- a $65 rate to fund a domestic well mitigation program with an expected allocation in 2040 of 13 inches; Option #2 – a rate of $95 to fund projects that would result in 15.5 inches of allocation in 2040; and Option #3 – a rate of $170 to fund projects resulting in 18 inches of allocation in 2040. All those allocations compare with the 2025 allocation of 27 inches. Growers could also check a box for the current rate.
Surveys were mailed on August 10th with a due date of August 31st. Email reminders were sent between August 20th and 27th. Responses and written comments totaled 45, with a majority preferring the minimum rate of $65 to be used to fund well repair.
The distribution of this survey, though, created quite a reaction. At a special meeting of the Madera Ag Water Association, growers complained they were not being given enough information and were concerned about how the results would be used. MAWA even asked its members not to respond.
During her presentation on September 17th, Anagnoson showed slides documenting the many meetings and activities that had been designed to allow growers to participate in the GSA’s plans to apply SGMA to the county. At the conclusion of her presentation which is available on the county website, Supervisor Rogers lamented the lack of response. He said the board was only looking for direction from growers. He said there was no need to become emotional about a survey.
Supervisor and board chair Rob Poythress echoed these comments saying he had met repeatedly with MAWA leadership in an effort to find common ground. He used the “chicken little” analogy saying that some thought the sky was falling even though the “acorn” was only a survey. He said the reaction was very discouraging.
With public comment invited, Noah Lopez, administrator of MAWA, said that the concerns about the survey were justified because it was unclear how the costs for the various options were calculated. He said the dollar per acre amounts were not tied clearly to a specific water allocation. He also said there was no indication of what the board would do with the results. He concluded by saying the MAWA wants financial transparency from the GSA.
Also speaking online but much more harshly was Devin Aviles of Agri-World Cooperative, a Madera County farming business. He said he was disappointed that no information had been provided to MAWA after the meetings with Supervisor Poythress. He said the lack of response to the survey was an indication of growers’ lack of trust. He said that speaking as an individual, he has no interest in further meetings. He said, “We want more response and quicker turn around.”
With no further public comment, Director Anagnoson said the survey response was comparable to other surveys conducted in recent years and that 30 to 50 people providing feedback during a busy season was satisfactory. She said the rate established for domestic well mitigation was based on DWR figures statewide.
She said her department’s budget had just gone through the county budgeting process, along with all other departments, showing planned income and expense. It’s a busy time for her department too, with that work and the calculation of recharge credits as available for county farmers. Responding to a supervisor question, she said some of the additional information requested would likely be available later in October.
She finished by saying, “We are tasked by the state for being a regulatory agency, which is a fundamental change.”
At that point, the supervisors moved on to other business on their agenda.
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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 GSAs for the three subbasins. The current board is composed of five members: Robert Poythress, chair, Letitia Gonzalez, Robert Macauley and Jordan Wamhoff.
The Madera Subbasin’s DWR # is 5-022.06