The North Kings GSA board of directors met on Thursday, June 28, 2018 at the Fresno Irrigation district headquarters in Fresno. Staff was ready. FID Controller DeAnn Hailey has been angling to get a new flat screen for the board room to facilitate presentations. There is a 82” hi def beauty hanging on the wall. Good for her. Chairman Jerry Prieto called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm straight up and down. We all saluted the flag. I don’t know why every government meeting doesn’t do so. There were no public comments or conflict of interests.
Under minutes Director Brian Pacheco asked to change the way attendance is recorded in the minutes. The board was amiable to that suggestion. The Advisory Committee Chair Luke Serpa of Clovis was on vacation, the nerve, so Technical Advisory Committee Chairman Bill Stretch took over. He explained what has been going on in his committee; determining the minimum threshold and how to go about that using measurable objectives. These numbers have yet to be determined. The hydrologic base period of 1998-2010 was selected for all seven GSAs in the Kings River Sub Basin.
FID engineer Adam Claes reported the district should have enough water to run well into the summer. The Central Sierra and the South Sierra snow packs deal with the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers respectively. The CVP allocation is 85 percent with inflows half of outflows at Millerton Lake. FID has 136,000 a/f in storage at Pine Flat. The snow melt has peaked early. That is developing as a trend in the past 20-years. Claes also reported the NKGSA has about six months to wrap up a completed draft of its GSP. Claes said the North Kings is ahead of everyone else. It’s not bragging if it’s true. He reported all the GSAs in the sub basin have signed a dispute resolution agreement.
Ron Samuelian, Provost & Pritchard gave his report saying all the GSAs have signed on to the dispute resolution and grant sharing agreement. The sub basin is dealing with DWR on the grant funding that will be eligible for costs back to 2017. Sharing data between the GSAs is important and that task is about to become formal with a written agreement. Determining storage change by GSA is still finding resistance, but he has hope. Defining confined aquifer flows below the Corcoran clay that follows the east side of the McMullin Area GSA and the southern side of the Central Kings GSA. That will help settle a lot of the questions and lead to a water budget. Sharing a data management system and providing DWR with one point of contact haven’t been established yet but they’re working on it. Getting a water budget for the entire sub basin as well as individual GSAs points out to how interdependent they are and the need to work together.
The Outreach Committee Chair Brandy Swisher spoke and said there was a recent committee meeting. The first public groundwater workshop is planned for November. An e-newsletter is in the works. The interested party database continues to grow which is encouraging.
The board was asked to adopt a resolution 18-02 to modify the boundaries. Claes explained there have been a handful of revisions to DWR’s Bulletin 118 – the official state document that established the hydrological basin and sub basin boundaries. DWR is allowing modifications as SGMA is pointing needed changes. There is a need to renew some county lines between Madera and Fresno Counties along the San Joaquin River. Madera County is leading that effort. As for the NKGSA it doesn’t want any land with less than alluvial soil at least 20 feet deep. There is ridge of bedrock south of Friant, Ca that is for sure not alluvial that needs to be excluded from the GSA. This request will be sent to the state and it will ship the data 20-mule team around Sacramento to various state bureaucracies where the requests for modification will molder until the fall when the state announces it’s OK.
Executive Director Gary Serrato said one of the disputed areas along the Madera County line revealed Madera County has been collecting tax assessments for the property and of course Madera had to claim the land. The board passed the resolution.
Serrato next told the board the Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability requested a letter of support to receive grant money to help with Disadvantaged Communities and staff has tinkered with the letter and asked the board to accept it. Director Michael Carbajal, City of Fresno said he can’t support this as the Leadership Counsel is suing Fresno. Directors Jose Florez, City of Clovis and Brian Pacheco, Fresno County were concerned about the Leadership Counsel suing. Florez was concerned about the amount of litigation and Pacheco said the Leadership Counsel often speaks out against the County even when it is in compliance. Amanda Monaco represents the Leadership Counsel and explained for her 
organization to be eligible for DWR grants it needs the letter of recommendations. Serrato said Self Help and the Community Water Center are also working on outreach. Self Help received such a letter from NKGSA. Director Rudy Hernandez of Biola Community Service District asked Serrato what he feels. Serrato thanked him for putting him on the spot and said Self Help has been with the NKGSA since the beginning and this may be overlap. The item died for lack of a motion. Perhaps excessive litigation isn’t the best way to make friends.
Attorney Brian Martin explained the NKGSA has been reviewing and possibly updating its conflict of interest code as required by law. He said FID’s Lynn Rowe has been very helpful in this. She is an amazing worker. Martin said an update has to be sent to the county by August 1st with an October 1st list of proposed amendments. That was that.
Financial matters were next and Hailey covered the expenses and financial statements. The board approved the whole shebang.
Serrato’s Executive Director’s report was next and he said a job description for executive officer is being prepared. As that is finished the personnel committee will be contacted.
Under directors’ reports there was nothing and the meeting adjourned at 7:00pm. Good job.
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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.
MEMBERS: Bakman Water Company, Cities of Kerman, Fresno and Clovis, Fresno County, Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District, Garfield Water District and Fresno ID
