A western Fresno County groundwater agency hopes to increase pumping fees by about 212%, from $8 per acre foot to $25 per acre foot, in a bid to avoid state intervention. The Pleasant Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) board agreed at its July 29 meeting to put the proposed fee hike to a vote of its growers through a Proposition 218 election, which is required before increasing land assessment or pumping fees. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 where growers can protest the proposed increase. If the pumping fee hike succeeds, the Pleasant Valley Water District, which also acts as the GSA, would reduce existing land assessment fees from $6 per acre to $3.25 per acre. The money from the pumping fee is needed, according to GSA board members, to pay for a revised groundwater plan. The Department of Water Resources deemed the region’s existing plan inadequate in February. 

Other groundwater news:

• University of California, Riverside: News release: Groundwater depletion sinks home prices in California’s Central Valley
• Maven’s Notebook: Blog: From vision to reality – advancing the Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project