SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY – Next year, local landowners will see increased assessment rates in the name of sustainability.
The Consolidated Irrigation District (CID) held a public comment hearing and vote tabulation for the Proposition 218 Election on Aug. 5. This proposition will allow the district to increase land-based assessments, potentially doubling current rates, to build groundwater recharge basins and help reach Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) compliance.
Voters passed the proposition by about 66%.
“We need our growers, our farmers and our ranchers too, we need you,” said Phil Desatoff, general manager of CID, to attendees. “Our goal here is not to put anyone out of business. We want to make sure that you can keep doing what you’re doing.”
The CID provides water from the Kings River for irrigation and groundwater recharge, and cities included in its region are Fowler, Kingsburg, Parlier, Sanger and Selma. SGMA was signed into law back in 2014, and requires groundwater basins to achieve sustainability by 2040.
Looking at recently available data, it became clear to the district that something significant had to be done to meet that requirement.
According to the district, local groundwater overdraft was previously estimated to be around 15,000 acre-feet per year, but more recent data shows this number to be closer to 40,000 acre-feet as a result of conversion to high-value permanent crops with higher water demand.
Taking this into consideration, the district saw two options: increase the supply of water, or manage the demand.
Rather than placing limits and enforcing allocations on farms, CID devised a plan to build more recharge basins that can make use of Kings River floodwater. With these new recharge basins, the district projects to capture up to 100,000 acre-feet of additional water during wet years, translating to an estimated 40,000 acre-feet of new water supply to the district annually.
Doing so will not be without cost to landowners, however. Users that receive surface supplies, classified as “CID Gravity,” will now see their rates go from $53 an acre to $74 an acre in 2026, with a proposed maximum of $126 per acre.
Those classified “Pump,” meaning they are not eligible to receive surface supplies, will see their assessment go from $22 per acre to $31 in 2026, with a proposed maximum of $53.
Those eligible to receive surface supplies through the Lone Tree Canal system, and receive longer duration of surface water deliveries, are classified as “Church Gravity.” This group will see their rates go from $64 per acre to $89 in 2026. The proposed maximum is $151 per acre.
Farmlands that are used as recharge operations, and lands that have historic rights to water outside of CID contracts, will not see any assessment increases.
Although there was a majority support amongst voters, some community members voiced their concerns with the increased fees.
“What I’m against is how much it costs,” said Bryan Bedrosian, a farmer from Fowler, during public comment. “I’m not against raising it $5, $10, and working with that, then we do something next year. But man, that’s a pretty big spike.”
While the rate increases are significant, CID assures that costs will still be highly competitive next to comparable basins.
Looking ahead
A graphic on display at the hearing illustrated the annual farming costs under the groundwater allocation programs of nearby basins, then compared them to the assessment increases from Prop 218. For scale, the graphic used an example of a 20-acre, groundwater-dependent vineyard, assuming an annual 2.3 acre-feet per acre water demand.
The most comparable example, Mid Kaweah GSA, is only able to farm 12 acres and must fallow eight acres, costing $3,364. CID, on the other hand, can farm all 20 acres for $3,580.
In addition, CID is going to continue applying for grants to eat some of the costs that will come with the transition to sustainability.
Though the passage of these assessment increases marks a significant step forward in that transition, Erik Rodriguez of the SGMA Community Education program outlined some work that can still be done.
“The only thing that we would like to see more development in moving forward is a variance in the approach for SGMA compliance,” Rodriguez said. “There’s no mention of MLRPs coming out, there’s no mention of crop conversion assistance and there’s no mention of other kinds of water saving methods that have been implemented in other areas.”
Rodriguez emphasized that the transition to crops with higher water demands is one of the biggest contributors to the massively increased overdraft. He noted that while farmers have to make their money, adjusting farming practices and having more means of sustainability could bring reduced fees in the future.
Desatoff told attendees that CID may host additional workshops in the future to further break down how these changes will benefit local farmers as well as the environment. The next regular board meeting will be held on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m.
