The SGMA Weekly

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Your weekly intelligence briefing on California groundwater. We attend 100+ board meetings so you don't have to. Every week, we break down the must-know decisions, trends of the valley, fee changes, water supply updates, and policy shifts from GSAs and water districts across the Central Valley and beyond. Produced by WaterOne.ai.

  1. 4h ago

    Tule Canal Talks Falter, a $30K Well Cap, and the Price of New Water — Oct 19, 2026

    Talks on a local alternative to a state pumping moratorium near the Friant-Kern Canal are faltering, and Lower Tule River Irrigation District is drafting a switch to pumping-based groundwater accounting. Eastern San Joaquin capped domestic well mitigation payments at $30,000 per eligible claim, Metropolitan is weighing $70 million to leave State Water Project water in the Delta, Vina rejected tighter groundwater thresholds, and Greater Kaweah authorized up to $10 million in penalty revenue for supplemental water while authorizing liens on unpaid penalties. Plus: new water priced out of reach, 2027 budgets, and groundwater models under review. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    Tule Canal Talks Falter, a $30K Well Cap, and the Price of New Water — Oct 19, 2026

  2. 6d ago

    A Century of Salt, Merced's 180-Day Clock, and Salinas Valley's 10% Question — Oct 13, 2026

    This week, a Central Valley salt program's modeling identified 25 groundwater agency areas, covering about 2.2 million acres, where salinity is projected to affect farm water within a century. DWR found one subsidence deficiency in the Merced Subbasin's plan, starting a 180-day clock, and Salinas Valley's preferred portfolio models a preliminary 10% cut in farm water demand. Plus North Kings well registration, paid-for water at risk in Saucelito, and trends on turf rules, data centers and water quality. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    A Century of Salt, Merced's 180-Day Clock, and Salinas Valley's 10% Question — Oct 13, 2026

  3. Oct 7

    Pleasant Valley Adopts Its Plan, a Canal-Zone Acreage Count, and Small-GSA Grant Money — Oct 5, 2026

    Pleasant Valley's groundwater agency adopted its plan on September 30, but the fight over the existing 90/10 allocation returns in October. We also cover the $3.5 million DWR's draft guidelines set aside for small GSAs (comments due at noon October 7), Stanislaus County's plan to give Non-District East growers an accounting platform before enforcement, and Porterville Irrigation District's count of about 380 wells against about 273 in GEARS reporting. This week's meetings: • Pleasant Valley GSA — adopted its Groundwater Sustainability Plan; allocation and recharge policies return in October; domestic well mitigation and exceedance policies approved • Mound Basin GSA — reported a $3.5 million small-GSA set-aside under Proposition 4; first five-year GSP periodic evaluation approved • Stanislaus Water Advisory Committee — Non-District East accounting platform targeted for the 2027 season; third-party review of the groundwater model • Porterville Irrigation District GSA — hypothetical Friant-Kern Canal zone estimates (about 10,000 acres at two miles; more than 14,000 of about 15,500 at three); GEARS deadline expected February 1, 2027 Plus trends across the valley: metering and monitoring data, recharge credit rules and floodwater recharge, and groundwater programs moving from paper to practice. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    Pleasant Valley Adopts Its Plan, a Canal-Zone Acreage Count, and Small-GSA Grant Money — Oct 5, 2026

  4. Sep 28

    An El Niño Emergency, Water by the Acre, and a Penalty Reset — Sep 28, 2026

    California is now under a statewide state of emergency for the developing El Niño, and Friant Water Authority has moved its canal outage up to late October to get ahead of possible flood operations at Millerton Lake. We also cover Pleasant Valley's proposal to allocate groundwater by acreage days before its plan hearing, Fox Canyon's $11.5 million in assessed late-reporting penalties and the automatic reductions it approved, Yolo County's extended well moratorium ahead of the Bay-Delta vote, and Metropolitan's warning that planned Colorado River cuts may not be enough. This week's meetings: • Metropolitan Water District — reported the Governor's statewide El Niño emergency; staff warned 1.25 million acre-feet a year in Colorado River cuts may not prevent dead pool • Friant Water Authority — canal dewatering moved roughly two weeks earlier to late October, with a two-week decision window to return the canal to service early • Pleasant Valley GSA — workshop on allocating by county-recorded acreage instead of irrigation history; plan hearing and possible adoption September 30 in Coalinga • Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency — approved automatic reductions for eligible backlog penalties; $11.5 million assessed to date, not the amount owed • Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency — Focus-Area agricultural well moratorium extended through August 25, 2027; draft Periodic Evaluation comments due November 8 Plus trends across the valley: golden mussels at Diamond Valley Lake and the treatment costs landing on the Friant-Kern and Cross Valley canals, basins lining up Proposition 4 projects (and a correction: comments on DWR's small-GSA guidelines are due at noon October 7), stacking plan comment windows, recharge credit and permit rules, and domestic well protections. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

  5. Sep 21

    No Compensation No Conservation, a $35 Pumping Fee, and Two Expired Permits — Sep 21, 2026

    Two of California's largest water agencies just stepped back from the state's uncompensated Colorado River conservation commitment, the State Water Board put a date on the Tulare Lake interim plan along with a pumping fee that would climb from twenty to thirty-five dollars an acre-foot, and the two permits that made fast winter recharge possible have quietly expired. We also cover a tight delivery window on the Delta-Mendota Canal, a proposed land-based assessment at Westlands, and some genuinely good subsidence news out of Ventura County. This week's meetings: • Palo Verde Irrigation District — Metropolitan and Imperial ID managers told the board they will not proceed with California's 440,000 acre-feet of uncompensated conservation under the current Lower Basin framework • South Fork Kings GSA — State Water Board timeline for a Tulare Lake interim plan, with the pumping fee rising from $20 to $35 per acre-foot on adoption • California Water Commission — the CEQA suspension for temporary permits and the Water Code 1242.1 local-plan waiver both lapsed with prior executive orders • San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority — O'Neill recommissioning September 23 to 24 leaves 400 to 500 CFS for canal demands • Westlands Water District — engineer's report approved for a proposed maximum assessment of $83.68 per irrigable acre, Prop 218 hearing December 15 • Fillmore and Piru Basins GSA — no detectable permanent subsidence in either basin, comments on the draft criteria close September 25 Plus trends across the valley: El Niño preparation, subsidence as the compliance test that decides everything else, Proposition 4 funding timing, vineyard contraction showing up in water agency planning, and consolidation fights at three agencies. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    No Compensation No Conservation, a $35 Pumping Fee, and Two Expired Permits — Sep 21, 2026

  6. Sep 14

    The Two-Mile Line, a Court Win That Still Costs You, and a Reservoir Filling Early — Sep 14, 2026

    State Water Board staff have proposed an interim plan for the Tule Subbasin whose first phase would halt pumping on every acre within at least two miles of the Friant-Kern Canal — and the agencies that would live under it have about seven weeks to put a local alternative in front of the Friant Water Authority. In Kings County, a judge told growers they're likely to win on the merits, then applied the pay-first rule and left the fees in place, with one carve-out that changes things for two GSAs. And DWR's latest position analysis has San Luis Reservoir filling early enough that 2026 carryover is at risk the moment the calendar turns. Also this week: the Modesto Sub-Basin's refined sustainable yield comes in 32,000 acre-feet below the number growers are currently allocated against, Napa County groundwater fee rates fall about 55%, Friant pulls its canal down ahead of schedule, and the evapotranspiration option takes its first board vote on the way out. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    The Two-Mile Line, a Court Win That Still Costs You, and a Reservoir Filling Early — Sep 14, 2026

  7. Sep 8

    Seepage for Sale, a Toad in the Way, and $22.8M of Dirt — Sep 8, 2026

    Greater Kaweah wants to buy the water leaking out of district canals and use it to retire the Tier 1/Tier 2 overdraft allocation — this week we hear how that concept is landing at Lakeside Irrigation District and Kaweah Delta WCD. A newly protected toad has stalled a FEMA-funded flood barrier as forecasters warn of a possible Super El Niño, McMullin Area GSA awards its $22.8 million flood-capture expansion, and four heavyweight commenters weigh in on the Delta-Mendota GSP with just a third of a foot of subsidence allowance left. In Trends: groundwater markets take their first exchange requests, collections and penalties tighten across the valley, roughly $740 million in Prop 4 grant programs comes into view, and DWR clears several basins while a new court ruling reshapes GSP litigation. Read the full recaps at waterone.ai | Try Chat GSA for instant answers about your district --- AI can make mistakes. Check important info. WaterOne.ai (Mizu Analytics, Inc.) strives to provide timely, accurate, and reliable coverage of water, agriculture, and related issues. However, no guarantee is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information presented. All content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided, and WaterOne disclaims all liability for errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from the use of this site. The opinions expressed are those of the authors.

    Seepage for Sale, a Toad in the Way, and $22.8M of Dirt — Sep 8, 2026

  8. Aug 24

    This Isn't Academic Anymore: 4,500 Dead Acres, a $730K Fund Nobody Wants, and the Colorado River's New Rulebook

    The pumping restriction taking shape along the Friant-Kern Canal isn't theoretical anymore — one Tule subbasin board member already has 4,500 acres out of production. This week: DWR tells the California Water Commission that every supply project together still won't close the valley's gap; a $730,000 small-farm fallowing fund near Paso Robles has fewer than 10 applicants; Metropolitan rereads the Palo Verde fallowing agreement and January planting gets complicated; Porterville ID GSA adopts its $50.67-per-acre extraction fee. Plus: the five-year GSP reviews where DWR's corrective actions actually bite, Friday's Colorado River Record of Decision, interconnected surface water as the state's recurring red pen, and districts quietly moving idle cash into higher yields. Full recaps of every board meeting we cover: https://gsa.waterone.ai — and try ChatGSA to ask anything about your district. Produced by WaterOne.ai.

    This Isn't Academic Anymore: 4,500 Dead Acres, a $730K Fund Nobody Wants, and the Colorado River's New Rulebook
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About

Your weekly intelligence briefing on California groundwater. We attend 100+ board meetings so you don't have to. Every week, we break down the must-know decisions, trends of the valley, fee changes, water supply updates, and policy shifts from GSAs and water districts across the Central Valley and beyond. Produced by WaterOne.ai.

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  • Creator
    WaterOne.ai
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mizu Analytics, Inc.
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    The SGMA Weekly