Dec 08, 2022 Special GSA Meeting

SO WE'RE GONNA BEGIN, UH, TODAY.

WE'LL BEGIN WITH MR. PEDRETTI HERE.

MR. SWINSON HERE.

WE'RE GONNA GO NEXT TO MR. DREYER HERE.

THANK YOU, SIR.

AND CURRENTLY CHAIRMAN PERRERA HERE.

AND IF MR. MARKINI ARRIVES, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE SURE THAT THE RECORD REFLECTS AS SUCH AND, AND, UH, UM, OKAY.

YES.

UM, AND FOR MR. UPTON AS WELL.

UPTON? YEAH.

RICK, WOULD YOU LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, PLEASE? IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US? I PLEDGE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

UH, AT THIS TIME, UH, WE'LL MOVE TO, UH, ITEM UH, THREE, WHICH IS PUBLIC COMMENT.

THIS IS THE PUBLIC'S OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON ANY MATTER OF PUBLIC INTEREST WITHIN THE BOARD'S JURISDICTION THAT IS NOT ON THE AGENDA.

UH, YOU'LL HAVE, UH, THREE MINUTES IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK.

UH, JUST COME UP TO THE FRONT THERE TO THE PODIUM.

NONE.

TO ITEM FOUR, WHICH IS OUR, EXCUSE ME, OUR CONSENT CALENDAR AGENDA.

WELL, WE'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT.

WE'LL MOVE

[4. CONSENT CALENDAR]

UM, HAVE Y'ALL HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK OVER THE ITEMS? I MOVE TO ADOPT THE CONSENT CALENDAR? OKAY, I'LL SECOND THAT.

WE HAVE A MOTION BY, UH, DIRECTOR SWINSON AND A SECOND BY DIRECTOR PEDRETTI.

I'LL OPEN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CONSENT ITEMS. SEEING NONE, I'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE CALL THE VOTE.

MR. DREYER.

AYE.

IN FAVOR, MR. PADRE? AYE.

MR. SWINSON AYE.

AND CHAIRMAN, PER AYE.

AND YOUR ITEM DOES PASS.

MOVE TO ITEM FIVE, WHICH IS THE, UH, GOVERNMENT'S CLAIMS ACT.

[5. GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ACT]

AND I'D LIKE TO ASK OUR LEGAL COUNSEL, JEANIE ZAZI, TO PROVIDE US A SUMMARY, WHATEVER ZOOM IS ON MUTE.

AFTERNOON.

SHE'S TRYING TO, UM, AS I THINK THE BOARD KNOWS, WE DID RECEIVE A GOVERNMENT CLAIMS ACT, UH, SUBMISSION, SUBMISSION TO THE BOARD.

UM, THAT IS A REQUIREMENT WHENEVER SOMEONE PLANS TO CHALLENGE ABOARD ACTION.

THE CLAIM WAS SUBMITTED ON NOVEMBER 2ND.

WE HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME IN WHICH TO ACT.

WE HAVE 45 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF RECEIPT OF THAT.

UM, THE CLAIM IS A PUBLIC RECORD, SO THAT IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE.

THE, UH, STEVENSON LANDOWNERS FILED THE CLAIM AND THEY OBJECT TO CONCLUSIONS IN THE GSA ENGINEER'S REPORT FOR THE RECENT FEE THAT WAS ADOPTED.

AND THEY OBJECT TO A PORTION OF THAT FEE HAVING TO DO WITH LAND REPURPOSING.

AND THE WATER RIGHT APPLICATION STAFF RECOMMENDS THAT THE BOARD TAKE ACTION TO REJECT THE CLAIM AT THIS MEETING FOR TWO REASONS.

FIRST, WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE CLAIM HAS MERIT.

AND SECOND, IT'S A STANDARD ACTION BECAUSE REJECTION WILL SHORTEN THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR THE STEVENSON LANDOWNERS TO FILE SUIT FROM TWO YEARS TO SIX MONTHS.

UPON REJECTION, UH, THE BOARD STAFF MUST SEND A LETTER OUT TO THE CLAIMANTS NOTIFYING THEM OF THIS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS AND THE TIMELINE THAT THEY HAVE TO ACT.

IN ADDITION, UM, STAFF WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE REACH OUT AND, AND WE WILL BE REACHING OUT TO THE ATTORNEY FOR THE STEVENSON LANDOWNERS TO DISCUSS THIS ISSUE AND SEE IF THERE'S ANY WAY THIS DISAGREEMENT CAN BE RESOLVED.

UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT MEETING.

AND THEN AT THE NEXT MEETING WE CAN PRI PROVIDE YOU AN UPDATE OF ANY PROGRESS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE.

SO THAT'S OUR RECOMMENDATION, AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.

ANY QUESTIONS OF, UH, JEANIE? NOPE.

UH, WE'RE GONNA PAUSE THE MEETING FOR JUST A MOMENT.

UH, WE'RE HAVING AN ISSUE WITH THE ZOOM, AND SO, UH, WE WANT TO GET THAT BACK ONLINE, AND THEN RIGHT AFTER WE RESUME, THEN WE'LL HAVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THIS ITEM.

PRESS.

SOUNDS LIKE, UH, SIRI GOT US BACK GOING.

[00:05:01]

UM, OKAY.

SO, UH, ERIC SWINSON.

THANK YOU, LLOYD.

UM, SO I'VE READ ALL EIGHT PAGES OF THE GOVERNMENT CLAIM THAT WAS SUBMITTED BY THE STEVENSON LANDOWNERS, AND I THINK THAT THE CLAIM THAT THERE'S NOT A PROPORTIONAL BENEFIT IS ACTUALLY VALID.

AND I THINK THAT THAT CLAIM APPLIES TO A LOT OF MUR COUNTY WATER DISTRICT PROPERTIES AS WELL AS THE STEVENSON PROPERTIES.

SO, PERSONALLY, I DON'T SEE A BASIS FOR REJECTING THIS CLAIM OUTRIGHT.

SO YOU, ANOTHER I'LL OPEN UP, UH, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

IS THERE ANY ON ZOOM? OH, SORRY.

LOOKS LIKE NOT ON ZOOM.

OKAY, THANKS.

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.

UH, DAVE NARINO FROM STEVENS, AND I'M ONE OF ANOTHER LANDOWNERS OUT THERE AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS THAT WOULD RATHER BE TAKING THIS MONEY AND GOING ON VACATION THAN GIVEN TO SOMEBODY ACROSS THE COUNTY THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, HASN'T BEEN A GOOD STEWARD OF WATER USAGE IN THE PAST, AND THERE'S NO GUARANTEE THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN THE FUTURE.

UM, MY STATIC WATER ON WELLS WAS DOWN TO 2223 FEET.

THE TWO, UH, RIVERS THAT WE CONFLUENCED TOGETHER, THE MERCED AND THE SAN JOAQUIN HAVE COME UP SIGNIFICANTLY, AND OUR WATER TABLES ALREADY RISING.

I'M BACK TO 14 FEET AT MY STATIC WATERS.

UM, WE'RE NEVER GONNA BE IMPACTED THE WAY EVERYBODY ELSE IS UNDER THESE REGULATIONS.

UM, I FEEL THAT WE'RE SUPPORTING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTY TO GET OUT OF THEIR MESS.

UM, IT'S A BURDEN.

IT'S NOT NECESSARY FOR US TO BE PARTICIPATING.

AND AS I'VE SAID IN THE PAST, YOU'RE GETTING A CART BEFORE THE HORSE.

WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ACCEPTED BY DW R YET, AND WE'VE ALREADY BEEN TAXED, SO WE'RE NOT GETTING ANY BENEFIT FROM THE TAX ON OUR END.

IT'S GONNA BENEFIT SOMEBODY ELSE.

TOTALLY.

AND WE'RE JUST, UM, TAKING THE BRUNT OF IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO, UM, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND JUST WANTED TO HAVE THAT COMMENT ON RECORD.

IF IT'S ABOVE THE CORK, CLAY, OR BELOW THE CORK.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

GOOD AFTERNOON.

I'M MICHAEL BRAZIL AND I'M WITH, UH, THE STEVENSON COMMUNITY SLASH MCK.

I'VE BEEN GOING TO THESE MEETINGS, UM, FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS.

IT SEEMED LIKE IT'S BEEN LIKE 40.

UM, I COME TO SOME OF THESE MEETINGS AND I LEAVE KNOWING LESS THAN WHEN I ACTUALLY SHOWED UP AT THE BEGINNING.

UH, IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS A, A PRETTY PICTURE BEING PAINTED, BUT AS TIME WENT ALONG, THE PICTURE DIDN'T SEEM LIKE IT WAS BEING PAINTED VERY WELL.

STARTED TO FADE ON ME CUZ AS I GO BACK TO MY COMMUNITY, WE RUN INTO PEOPLE AT CHURCH.

HOW'S IT GOING? AT FIRST IT WAS GOING PRETTY GOOD AND THEN IT JUST SEEMED LIKE NOT SO GOOD.

BUT IN ONE PARTICULAR MEETING I RECALL THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THAT OUR WATER SHOULD GO TO DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

I AGREE.

I BELIEVE IT SHOULD GO TO THAT BEFORE IT GOES OVER THE HILL.

I ALSO BELIEVE THAT WE DO QUALIFY FOR THAT TOO.

DON'T TAKE MY WORD ON IT, JUST DRIVE THROUGH THERE ONE DAY.

BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE WE HAVE HERE IS I THOUGHT THAT THE LAW, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, CUZ AT TIMES I THINK I KNOW EVERYTHING AND I DON'T.

BUT I THOUGHT THE LAW WAS GONNA BE THE 2015, WHAT THE WATER TABLE WAS AT THAT POINT, THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO SUSTAIN THAT.

I BELIEVE THAT STEVENSON SLASH MUR IS DOING THAT ALREADY AS WE SPEAK.

WE TRY TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE THAT ARE SOME OF YOURSELVES, AND IT'S ALWAYS LIKE, HOW DO YOU KNOW? HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM? SO I I BROUGHT DATA WITH ME TODAY, I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.

SO I'VE GOT SOME DATA THAT WE'VE COLLECTED STARTING IN 2014 TO 2022.

SO THAT WOULD BE FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS.

FIVE OF THOSE WEREN'T DRY YEARS, THEY WERE CRITICAL DRY YEARS IN THESE EIGHT YEARS, FIVE OF THEM BEING CRITICAL DRY YEARS ON AVERAGE, WE LOST THREE FEET OF LE OF ELEVATION.

I WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT THE MAPS THAT YOU GUYS ARE USING TO MAKE SOME OF THESE DECISIONS, AND THEY MATCH MY DATA REGARDLESS

[00:10:01]

CLAY, YOU GOT US.

YOU GUYS HAVE US AS ZERO TO 10.

MY DATA SHOWS, AND I GOT IT HERE.

I'M WILLING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU GUYS THAT IN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS, FIVE OF THEM BRING IN CRITICAL DRY YEARS THAT WE'VE ONLY LOST SOME OF THE AREAS IN THE BASIN, BUT WE DON'T FEEL WE WANT TO PAY FOR EVERYBODY.

SOME OF THE AREAS SHOW THIS ISN'T MY INFORMATION, THIS IS YOUR OVER 50 FEET.

SO MR. BRAZIL, YOUR TIME'S UP.

SO THAT MAKE YOUR FINAL, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR LAST QUESTION.

MY FINAL QUESTION IS, WE WANT TO PLAY BY THE RULES.

WE BELIEVE WE ALREADY ARE.

IF THE RULES ARE THE LAW IS THE 2015 LEVELS, WE ALREADY NEED THOSE TODAY.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

THREE MINUTES OR 33.

MY NAME'S DAN THE SHADOW.

I'M A THIRD GENERATION AND STEVENSON GRANDFATHER STARTED ABOUT 105 YEARS AGO, FARMING AND MY DAD AFTER HIM AND, AND I'M UP NEXT.

AND SO WE'RE PRETTY WELL AWARE OF THE WATER TABLE ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN ON FOR A LONG TIME.

AND, UH, ON TOP OF THAT WE'RE ALSO WHAT WE CALL DITCH DIGGERS, UH, AS A PROFESSION, I DIG ALL OVER THE VALLEY FLOOR QUITE A BIT IN STEVENSON AND IN YOUR AREA AS WELL.

SO I'M VERY WELL AWARE HOW THE WATER MOVES.

AND ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO, AND THE, THE GROUP CAN C CORRECT ME, THE WATER TABLE GOT SO BAD IN STEVENSON THAT WE HAD TO GET HELP FROM THE STATE AND PUT IN 27 WELLS TO KEEP US FROM DROWNING BECAUSE OUR ROADS WERE GOING TO HELL AND YOU COULDN'T FLUSH A TOILET.

AND AT THE SAME TIME I WAS DOING PROJECTS AND I WANT TO JUST NAME NAMES, BUT I CAN SAY SOUTH OF MERCED, FROM BANAS TO EL NIDO TO RED TOP TO PLANADA AT THE SAME TIME I WAS DIGGING THERE, BUT MY JOB WAS DIFFERENT.

IT WAS TAKING THE CONCRETE TOPS OFF OF WELLS AND CUTTING 'EM DOWN SO THEY CAN LOWER 'EM DOWN TO GROUND HEIGHT BECAUSE BACK THEN WE CALLED IT A SINK HOLE.

NOBODY IN THIS ROOM KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT.

NOW YOU CALL IT SUBSIDENCE.

AND SINCE THEN WE'VE BEEN BACK THERE MORE THAN ONCE.

AND AT THE SAME TIME, OUR WATER TABLE HAS NOT MOVED.

I'M ABOUT OUT OF TIME, SO I'M GONNA CUT.

UM, WE LIVE BETWEEN TWO RIVERS.

IT'S BEEN MENTIONED.

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT STEVENSON DOES.

WE'RE IN A SWAMP ZONE AS I WAS TEASED GROWING UP.

AND NOTHING'S CHANGED.

WE'VE BEEN MORE EFFICIENT IRRIGATING.

THIS GROUP BACK HERE HAS DONE THAT VERY WELL.

WE, NO MATTER WHAT WE PUMP, AND THE BEST EXAMPLE WAS IN THAT SEVERE DROUGHT WHEN WE, MY GROUNDWATER WENT DOWN TO 18 FEET, WHICH IS UNHEARD OF.

IT'S NORMALLY THREE TO FIVE.

TWO MONTHS LATER, THE RIVERS CAME BECAUSE WE HAD A EARLY RAIN AND WE ACTUALLY HAD A LITTLE BIT OF FLOODING.

I DON'T FIT 16, 17, THEY CAN CORRECT ME ON THE, ON THE DATES.

AND IN TWO WEEKS MY WATER TABLE WAS AT THREE.

AND WE DON'T HAVE A RECHARGE BASIN.

WE'VE BEEN BLESSED WITH THAT.

SO AS FAR AS, OH, AND AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE STILL GOING TO THESE AREAS AND CORRECTING WELLS THAT ARE STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND.

SO I'M PRETTY SURE SHORT OF NOT HAVING GOD IN THIS ROOM, THEY'RE NOT IMPACTING OTHER AREAS OF THE REGIONS OF THIS VALLEY.

SO I DO BELIEVE, OR I HOPE THIS BOARD CONSIDERS THE ZONES.

I KNOW THAT IT WAS BROUGHT UP.

I STAYED IN THE SHADOWS FOR YEARS BECAUSE I HEARD ZONES, AND NOW I'M NOT HERE IN ZONES.

SO I BELIEVE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT WE STAY THERE FOR A POOR COMMUNITY.

THIS GROUP BACK HERE COULD PROBABLY AFFORD THESE FEES AND MAYBE MYSELF AS WELL.

MAKE YOUR FINAL POINT PLEASE.

ANYONE ELSE? OKAY, IS THERE ANYBODY ON

[00:15:01]

ZOOM? NONE ONLINE.

WE'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT.

NOW BRING IT BACK TO THE DIAS.

ANY COMMENTS OR MOTIONS? NO, GO AHEAD.

OH, I'M SORRY.

GO AHEAD.

YOU'RE GOOD NOW.

UH, I'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO REJECT THE GOVERNMENT TORQUE CLAIM FROM THE LAWSUIT AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF.

UM, COULD I, COULD I, UH, ASK COUNSEL TO COME BACK UP TO THE PODIUM PLEASE? IF WE DON'T REJECT THE CLAIM, WHAT IS WHAT THEN WHAT HAPPENS? WHAT'S THE NEXT, UH, STEP? UM, AFTER 45 DAYS, THE CL CLAIM IS DEEMED REJECTED, BUT THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IS TWO YEARS.

GOTCHA.

AND WE WANNA RESOLVE THIS NOW.

IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND.

WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.

THE MOTION WAS BY, UH, DIRECTOR PEDRETTI AND THE SECOND LIST BY DIRECTOR DREYER, PLEASE.

OH, YEAH, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

AND CHAIRMAN PERRERA? UH, AYE.

THANK YOU, SIR.

THAT ITEM DOES, DOES PASS AS RECOMMENDED.

DID YOU, UM, WANNA MAKE COMMENT OR NO, NO, I, SORRY, I WAS JUST TRYING TO TURN THE MIC.

YEAH, JUST TURN IT OFF.

WHAT'S THAT? OH, OKAY.

SO WE HAVE, UH, DIRECTOR MARTINI ON ZOOM.

DID HE JUST ENTER OR WOULD HE VOTE? HE JUST ENTERED.

MOVED TO ITEM SIX, WHICH IS LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM CONTRACTS.

YEP.

OH, WERE YOU ON TO HEAR THE DISCUSSION AND THE MOTION? I WAS NOT SORRY, GUYS.

PROP LATE.

OH, THAT'S OKAY.

WE'LL GET YOU ON THE NEXT ITEM.

[6. LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM CONTRACTS]

AND, UH, LACY AND CHRIS HOEPPNER FROM E K I WILL, UH, GIVE US A SUMMARIZATION.

I'LL JUST KICK IT OFF REAL QUICK.

SO THIS IS A, UH, BIG DAY FOR THE LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM.

TODAY, YOU'LL HEAR A SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN RECEIVED, THE PROCESSING SCORING, AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE COMING FROM THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, WHICH WILL RESULT IN REAL GROUNDWATER USE REDUCTION OVER THE TERM OF THE REPURPOSING.

UM, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH CHRIS HOEPPNER FROM E K I, AND HE'LL PRESENT SOME SLIDES THAT REVIEW THE APPLICATIONS SCORING AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

AND IF YOU'LL GIVE ME A MINUTE, WE'LL ALLOW CHRIS TO SHARE HIS SLIDES.

CHRIS, GO AHEAD AND YOU'RE ON MUTE.

THERE WE GO.

UH, GOOD AFTERNOON.

UH, CAN EVERYBODY SEE MY SCREEN? YES.

UM, TWO APPLICATIONS SCORED THE MAXIMUM POINTS FOR THAT, MEANING THEY WERE IN THE HIGHEST SUBSIDENCE AREA.

SO AS LA MENTIONED TODAY, I'LL BE GIVING THE UPDATE ON THE LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN RECEIVED DURING THIS FALL'S, UH, SOLICITATION PERIOD.

I'LL TALK ABOUT THE PROCESSING AND SCORING OF THOSE APPLICATIONS AND THE, UH, RECOMMENDATION THAT COMES OUT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, UM, TO THIS BOARD REGARDING, UH, ACCEPTANCE OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.

SO, JUST TO REVIEW THE SCHEDULE FOR LANDER PURPOSING PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION, UM, STARTING THIS PAST AUGUST, UH, STARTED WITH PUBLIC OUTREACH.

UM, WORKSHOPS WERE HELD, FLYERS DISTRIBUTED WEBSITE, UH, UPDATES, ET CETERA.

UM, THE APPLICATION SOLICITATION PERIOD OPENED ON SEPTEMBER 1ST, AND ORIGINALLY WAS, UM, SCHEDULED TO CLOSE ON OCTOBER 31ST, BUT WAS THEN EXTENDED FOR ANOTHER 15 DAYS TO NOVEMBER 15TH.

UM, STARTING AROUND EARLY NOVEMBER.

UH, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT AND PROCESSING AND SCORING THE APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AS HIGHLIGHTED HERE IN YELLOW.

UM, AND HERE WE ARE IN DECEMBER, UH, BRINGING THE INFORMATION TO THIS BOARD FOR REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF, UH, APPROVAL OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.

AND THEN THE NEXT STEPS WOULD BE TO START TO DEVELOP AND EXECUTE LAND PURPOSING PROGRAM AGREEMENTS WITH THE, UH, APPLICANTS WHO, WHO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED.

AND THEN LAND PURPOSING ITSELF WOULD BE STARTING, UH, IN

[00:20:01]

2023.

SO DURING THIS APPLICATION PERIOD, THERE WERE 27 TOTAL APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, UH, FROM A TOTAL OF 17 DIFFERENT APPLICANTS PARCELS FROM WHICH THESE APPLICATIONS COVER, UH, ARE SORT OF SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE MS GSA AREA.

ON THE MAP ON THE RIGHT, YOU CAN SORT OF SEE THE GENERAL AREAS AND THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS AND THE ACREAGES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, UH, TOTAL OF ABOUT 3,600 ACRES OF LAND WERE, UH, APPLIED FOR REPURPOSING AT THIS TIME.

SOME OTHER, UH, INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE APPLICATIONS, THE, THE MOST COMMON LAND USE EXISTING LAND USE WAS ALMONDS, UM, WITH A SECOND PLACE OF OTHER TYPES OF DES DECIDUOUS TREATY CROPS.

THE PROPOSED REPURPOSED LAND USE MOST COMMON WAS FALLOW.

AND THEN, UH, BEHIND THAT WAS SORT OF A NON IRRIGATED WINTER GRAIN CROPS.

THE AREAS TO BE REPURPOSED, UH, RANGE PRETTY WIDELY FROM SEVEN TO OCTOBER 900 ACRES.

UM, MOST OF THE APPLICATIONS DID PROPOSE THE MAXIMUM FIVE YEAR DURATION.

UH, AS YOU'LL RECALL, THERE WAS A THREE TO FIVE YEAR DURATION, UM, OPTION FOR, FOR THIS, UH, SOLICITATION.

AND MOST OF THEM HAD FIVE YEARS.

WE REQUESTED CONSENT OF COMPENSATION.

PAYMENTS ALSO RANGED WIDELY FROM $300 PER ACRE UP TO $2,500 PER ACRE.

SO THE PROCESS TO SCORE THESE APPLICATIONS, UH, HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AND WAS APPROVED BY THIS BOARD, UH, IN THE SUMMERTIME, I BELIEVE IN AUGUST.

AND IT BASICALLY INVOLVED, UM, YOU KNOW, SEEKING CLARIFYING INFORMATION FROM CERTAIN APPLICANTS WHERE THERE WAS SOME, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY INTENDED TO PUT ON AN APPLICATION WHERE THINGS WEREN'T CLEAR.

SO WE FOLLOWED UP AND, AND GOT THAT INFORMATION.

WE THEN MAPPED THE APPLICATIONS, UM, TO LOOK AND SEE HOW THEY STACKED UP AGAINST THE OR SPATIAL CRITERIA THAT ARE PART OF THE SCORING PROCESS.

WE TRANSLATED THE LAND USE INFORMATION INTO THE STANDARDIZED CROP CATEGORIES.

ALSO, PART OF THE, UM, CRITERIA FOR, FOR SCORING, WE COMPILED BASELINE WATER USE DATA, AND THEN WE CALCULATED THE APPLICATION SCORES BASED ON THE FRAMEWORK.

UM, USING, YOU KNOW, EACH CRITERIA AS PLANNED.

ON THE RIGHT, WE JUST ARE SHOWING A FEW OF THE SPATIAL DATA SETS THAT WERE USED TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ASSIGNED SCORES BASED ON LOCATION OF THE, OF THE APPLICATIONS.

SO ONCE WE HAD COMPLETED THE, UM, SCORING, WE MET WITH THE, UH, M MS GS A STAFF AND MYSELF MET WITH THE COMMITTEE ON, UH, TWO OCCASIONS TO DISCUSS THE SCORED APPLICATIONS DURING THESE MEETINGS.

UM, THERE WAS NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICANTS THEMSELVES, UM, THAT EVERYTHING WAS KEPT ANONYMOUS.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THE AD HOC COMMITTEE REVIEWED THE SCORES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HAD A, HAD A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON, UM, COST EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROGRAM.

AND SO, AS I'LL SHOW IN THE NEXT SLIDE HERE, UM, AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S A EIGHTH CRITERIA, I'M SORRY, A NINTH CRITERIA, UM, CALLED ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.

AND, AND THIS, UM, CRITERIA WAS USED LARGELY TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO SCORES, UM, TO ADDRESS COST EFFECTIVENESS.

SO HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE SCORING CRITERIA.

UM, EACH, EACH ROW IS A, ONE OF THE CRITERIA.

YOU CAN SEE THERE'S FOUR THAT HAVE TO DO WITH, UH, SPATIAL LOCATION.

TWO THAT HAVE TO DO WITH WATER USE AND WATER USE SAVINGS.

TWO THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE OFFER.

AND THEN, UH, ONE THAT HAS TO DO WITH ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.

UM, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, I'M SHOWING THE RESULTS FOR, YOU KNOW, THIS BATCH OF APPLICATIONS THAT WAS RECEIVED.

I'LL JUST RUN THROUGH THIS QUICKLY.

UM, WITH A GREATER THAN 50 FEET OF GROUNDWATER LEVEL DECLINE, SIX OF THE APPLICATIONS WERE WITHIN THAT AREA.

THE REST WERE NOT.

UM, IN RELATION TO SUBSIDENCE,

[00:25:01]

EIGHT OTHER APPLICATIONS SCORED SOME POINTS, MEANING THEY WERE IN AN AREA OF SOME SUBSIDENCE, JUST NOT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SUBSIDENCE RELATIVE TO LOCATIONS OF DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

UH, 21 OF THE APPLICATIONS, UH, SCORED POINTS FOR THAT, MEANING THAT THEY WERE LOCATED IN AREAS CLASSIFIED AS DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.

UM, IN RELATION TO DOMESTIC WELLS, THREE APPLICATIONS SCORED A MAXIMUM POINTS FOR THAT FIVE SCORED, UM, LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM, BUT, BUT MORE THAN ZERO.

AND THEN THE OTHERS WERE, YOU KNOW, NOT IN SECTIONS THAT HAVE DOMESTIC WELLS.

MOVING ON TO WATER USE.

UM, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE PREDOMINANT, UM, EXISTING LAND USE WAS ALMONDS.

UH, AND THE PREDOMINANT REPURPOSED LAND USE WAS FALLOW.

UM, IN THEORY, THAT PROVIDES A, A LARGE AMOUNT OF, OF, UH, WATER SAVINGS.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE CAN SEE THAT 20 APPLICATIONS, THE MAJORITY OF APPLICATIONS SCORED, UM, THE MAXIMUM POINTS FOR THAT CRITERION.

UH, FOUR OTHER APPLICATIONS SCORED SOME POINTS, AND THEN THREE OF THE APPLICATIONS, UM, DID NOT PROPOSE LAND USES THAT WOULD RESULT IN, IN ANY WATER SAVINGS.

AND SO THEY WERE SORT OF DISMISSED, UM, FOR THAT REASON.

UM, IN TERMS OF CHANGE IN TOTAL WATER USE ON AN ACRE-FOOT VOLUME BASIS, UM, SEVEN SCORED THE MAXIMUM POINTS AND 14 OTHERS SCORED AT SOME POINTS, AT SOME POINTS, UM, ON THE OFFER PER VOLUME OF WATER SAVED.

CRITERION, UH, THIS, THIS IS AGAIN, SORT OF A COST EFFECTIVENESS RATING, BUT, UM, IT'S BASED ON THE SORT OF THEORETICAL CROP CROP WATER USE SAVINGS, SIX SCORED THE MAXIMUM POINTS.

13 OTHERS SCORED SOME POINTS.

AND, UM, EIGHT, EIGHT APPLICATIONS SCORED NEGATIVE POINTS.

UM, AS YOU'LL RECALL, THE, UM, SCORING PROCESS ALLOWED FOR NEGATIVE POINTS FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, VERY HIGH COST APPLICATIONS, YOU KNOW, REALLY TO SORT OF DISCOURAGE, UM, DISCOURAGE THAT IN TERMS OF DURATION.

AS I SAID, MOST OF THE APPLICANTS APPLICATIONS WERE FOR FIVE YEAR DURATION, SO THEY SCORED THE MAXIMUM POINTS THERE.

UM, SIX OTHERS SCORED SOME POINTS, UM, AND ONE APPLICATION, UH, IS DISQUALIFIED FOR A, UH, A DELAYED START.

IN TERMS OF OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE AD HOC APPLIED, UM, YOU KNOW, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POINT ADJUSTMENTS TO REFLECT THE APPLICATION'S COST EFFECTIVENESS BASED ON ACTUAL BASELINE WATER USE.

SO, UM, IN COMPARISON TO THE CRITERIA ABOVE, UM, CALLED CHANGE IN NORMALIZED WATER USE, UM, THIS CONSIDERATION USED, YOU KNOW, ACTUAL ABOUT TRANSPIRATION DATA FROM THE SPECIFIC PARCELS, UM, NOT JUST SORT OF THE, UH, IDEALIZED THEORETICAL CROP WATER USE.

CHRIS, IF I COULD INTERRUPT YOU FOR A SECOND, UM, ON THE SCREEN HERE THAT WE'RE SEEING, UH, THE COLUMN FOR, OR THE CATEGORY FOR OTHER, UM, THE, THE BOTTOM OF THE ZOOM PAGE IS BLOCKING THAT FROM OUR VIEW.

IS THERE A WAY TO FIX THAT? OH, UM, I AM NOT SURE HOW THAT'S SHOWING UP ON YOUR END.

ON MY END.

I CAN SEE IT.

UM, THAT WAS A LITTLE BETTER.

WHATEVER YOU DID.

HOW MANY, UH, UH, TO THE COLUMN TO THE RIGHT, HOW MANY LINES ARE THERE? WE SEE TWO.

UM, I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION.

YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LAST ROW, THE OTHER ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ROW? YEAH, THERE ARE, THERE ARE TWO LINES OF TEXT AND IT, IT READS AD HOC APPLIED POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POINTS TO REFLECT APPLICATIONS COST EFFECTIVENESS BASED ON ACTUAL BASELINE USE.

LET ME JUST ANIMATE THIS HERE.

WE'RE GOOD? SURE.

SO WE WANTED TO LOOK AT THE SCORES, UM, IN A RANKED FASHION AND SORT OF TALLYING UP THE CUMULATIVE COSTS OF THE APPLICATIONS AT EV EVERY GIVEN SCORING POINT IN THE CUMULATIVE AMOUNT OF, OF WATER STATE.

SO THAT'S WHAT THIS GRAPH SHOWS HERE.

UM, YOU HAVE SCORES ALONG THE BOTTOM ROW, OR SORRY, ALONG THE HORIZONTAL AXIS, UM, HIGHER SCORES TO THE RIGHT.

SO, UM, BASICALLY STARTING WITH THE HIGHEST SCORES ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT, UM, AS YOU WORK YOUR WAY SORT OF UPWARDS INTO THE LEFT, WE ARE SHOWING, YOU KNOW, MORE COSTS FOR THE PROGRAM AS WELL AS MORE WATER SAFE.

UM, AND

[00:30:01]

UM, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BASED ON THIS, UM, GRAPHIC AND, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE, LOOKING AT THE SET OF APPLICATIONS, THE, THE AD HOC THROUGH DISCUSSIONS HAS COME TO A, A RECOMMENDATION OF A SCORE OF, YOU KNOW, 12.75, WHICH FALLS RIGHT AROUND HERE, UM, WITH, YOU KNOW, WHICH BASICALLY WOULD ACHIEVE AN ANNUAL WATER SAVINGS OF 7,263 APPROXIMATELY ACRE FEE PER YEAR, UM, WITH A COST OF APPROXIMATELY 1.438 MILLION, UM, WHICH COMES OUT TO ABOUT AN AVERAGE, AVERAGE COST OF WATER SAVINGS OF ABOUT $198 PER A FOOT.

UM, THIS SLIDE HERE GIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT THOSE APPLICATIONS THAT WOULD HAVE THAT SCORE OR HIGHER, UM, ENTAIL IT'S, UH, 16 APPLICATIONS.

IT'S A TOTAL AREA OF, UH, ABOUT 2,944 ACRES.

WATER SAVINGS, UM, ON A PER ACRE BASIS WOULD RANGE FROM ABOUT 1.1 TO 3.3, AVERAGING ABOUT 2.5.

UM, THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED AS SHOWN HERE AND IN THIS PIE CHART.

SO, UM, ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF 'EM ARE IN THE SORT OF SOUTHEASTERN AREA HERE.

ONE IS IN THE SOUTH AREA HERE.

UH, THE COLLECTION OF ABOUT FIVE ARE IN THE NORTHERN AREA HERE, AND ONE IS IN THE WESTERN AREA, WEST OF THE CITY OF MERCED.

THE INCENTIVE PAYMENT AMOUNTS, UH, WITHIN THESE 16 APPLICATIONS RANGE FROM $300 PER ACRE TO $800 PER ACRE WITHIN AVERAGE.

UH, WHEN YOU SORT OF COMPILE THE AVERAGE WATER SAVING, OR SORRY, THE AVERAGE, SORRY, WHEN YOU TAKE THE TOTAL COST AND DIVIDE IT BY THE TOTAL ACRES, THAT'S AN AVERAGE OF $481 PER ACRE.

SO THE NEXT STEPS WOULD BE FOR THIS BOARD TO MAKE A DECISION AND DETERMINATION ON, ON WHAT MINIMUM SCORE TO ACCEPT.

THEN THE BOARD WOULD AUTHORIZE STAFF TO DEVELOP LAND REPURPOSING AGREEMENTS WITH THOSE APPLICANTS, UM, WITH A COUPLE OF SUB ITEMS TO DO, INCLUDING FINALIZING THE AREA TO BE REPURPOSED, FINALIZING THE LIST OF OTHER PROPERTIES THAT THOSE APPLICANTS OWN FOR MONITORING PURPOSES, UM, AND ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM WATER USE REDUCTION OF VALUES.

ALL OF THESE ARE STEPS THAT ARE LAID OUT IN THE PLAN PURCHASING PROGRAM DOCUMENTS, UM, DRAFT THOSE AGREEMENTS, SEND THEM TO THE APPLICANTS FOR THEIR REVIEW AND SIGNATURE, AND THEN THE BOARD CHAIRMAN WOULD SIGN ON BEHALF OF THE GSA AS AUTHORIZED.

AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST LATER, PURPOSING AND ASSOCIATED MONITORING WOULD BEGIN.

SO THAT'S ALL I HAVE TODAY.

I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.

QUESTIONS.

MY FIRST QUESTION.

OH, DID YOU PRESS AGAIN? OKAY.

HOLD ON JUST A SECOND.

UM, THE QUESTION I HAVE IS, WHAT WAS THE AVERAGE ANNUAL AMOUNT BUDGETED FOR THE LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM IN THE TWO 18? I BELIEVE THAT THE ANNUAL AMOUNT BUDGETED IS 3 MILLION.

YES.

SO WE'RE LOOKING AT ROUGHLY HALF OF THE DESIRED, UM, AMOUNT OF WATER SAVED WITH APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE BUDGETED AMOUNT.

THAT'S CORRECT.

I JUST WANTED TO, YEAH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE REALLY SURPRISED THAT, THAT THAT HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS THE AD HOC COMMITTEE.

IN FACT, WE WERE SURPRISED THAT WE GOT THAT MUCH, THAT MANY PEOPLE SIGNING UP.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR CHRIS, NICK? UH, OR ON ANYBODY? ANY, DOES NICK HAVE A QUESTION ONLINE? DOES HE HAVE HIS HAND RAISED? THERE IS NONE ONLINE.

NO.

ON THE TEMPLATE TO RETURN TO THE BOARD IN JANUARY TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN IN JANUARY.

DID YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING LACEY, UH, TO THAT? SO, I, I'D SAY THE, THE ONLY CONSIDERATION, UM, AS YOU THINK ABOUT MOVING FORWARD WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS IS, UM, IS THE BOARD LOOKING TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE CONTRACTS BASED ON THE TEMPLATE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN APPROVED BY THE BOARD TODAY, OR WHETHER YOU'D LIKE THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTS, UM, THAT ARE BASED

[00:35:01]

SO IT'S JUST THE PREFERENCE OF THE BOARD.

DOES ANYBODY HAVE A, A CARE EITHER WAY? I MEAN, PUBLIC COMMENT? WELL, NO, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, WE'RE IT'S JUST BOARD DISCUSSION, THEN WE'LL GO OUT FOR A PUBLIC COMMENT.

UM, I THINK AS LONG AS IN THE FINAL NEGOTIATIONS, NOTHING SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGES FROM WHERE THINGS ARE TODAY, THEN I DON'T THINK IT NEEDS TO COME BACK TO THE BOARD.

I'D RATHER VOTE ON NOT KNOWING WHO THE PROPERTY OWNERS ARE.

I MEAN, JUST THE, THE PROJECTS.

THE PROJECT AND WE EITHER APPROVE IT OR NOT, BUT, UH, YEAH.

UM, SO YOU, NO OTHER QUESTIONS.

IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME? , COME ON UP.

UM, WHAT WAS OUR GOAL ON DECREASING THE ACRE-FEET YIELD? UM, IS, IT'S LIKE 15,000 ACRE FEET A YEAR.

THE GOAL IS 15,000 ACRE FEET A YEAR BY THE END OF WATER YEAR 2025.

AND SO THIS WOULD DECREASE IT BY WHAT? UH, 72.

72.

SO WE'RE, WE'RE ALMOST HALFWAY THERE IN THIS ONE LITTLE OCCURRENCE.

UM, WHICH IS VERY, YOU KNOW, TERRIFIC.

I THINK, UM, ALSO THE FACT THAT WE'RE ONLY USING HALF THE MONEY, THE TWO 18 BUDGETED FOR IT NOW IN OUR TWO 18 BUDGET, IS THIS ALSO ALLOWING STILL MONEY FOR OPERATING EXPENSES AND STAFF.

AND THAT, UM, THE BUDGET MONEY WA THE 3 MILLION THAT WE'RE GONNA BUDGET FOR WATER SEPARATE, SO WE'RE ONLY USING HALF OF IT.

SO MY QUESTION THEN IS WE'RE GONNA HAVE SURPLUS SO WE CAN IN THE FUTURE, IF WE CONTINUE THIS PROGRESS AT THIS RATE, WE WOULDN'T NEED ALL THAT TWO 18 MONEY, OR WE COULD LOWER IT TO A MORE REASONABLE AMOUNT FOR PEOPLE.

UM, THE OTHER THING THING IS, UM, YOUR AVERAGE RANGE FROM 300 TO 800 ACRE FEET WITH AVERAGE OF OR DOLLARS, AN AVERAGE OF $481.

THEY JUST WENT AHEAD AND TOOK THE TOTAL COST BY TOTAL ACRES AND GAVE YOU AN AVERAGE OF $481.

I'D LIKE TO SEE IT BROKE DOWN A LITTLE MORE OF HOW MANY OF THOSE, UM, 2,900 ACRES OR $300, AND HOW MANY OF THOSE 2,900 ACRES ARE AT $800 AND ARE WE, COULD WE CUT DOWN SOME OF THE $800 SIDE AND EVEN DECREASE IT MORE AND NOT HAVE MUCH IMPACT ON OUR WATER SAVINGS? SO THIS AVERAGE, THE WAY THEY'RE DOING IT ISN'T VERY HELPFUL TO YOU GUYS.

AND I THINK YOU SHOULD BREAK IT DOWN MORE INTO INCREMENTS OF HOW MANY ACRES ARE AT THIS PRICE, HOW MANY ACRES THIS PRICE, AND THEN MAKE YOUR ACCEPTANCE ON YOUR, UM, INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTS THAT WAY SO THAT YOU'D HAVE MORE ACCURACY.

AND MAYBE SOME OF 'EM ARE A LITTLE EXTRAVAGANT, AND WE COULD PULL THOSE DOWN AND BUDGET OUR MONEY A LITTLE BETTER.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? IS THERE ANY ONLINE? THERE'S NONE ONLINE.

NOT ONLINE.

I'LL, UH, CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

THERE WE GO.

UM, AND, AND JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, I WAS ON THE, UH, ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE, SO JUST, JUST FOR, FOR, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WEREN'T, UM, WHEN, WHEN WE WENT THROUGH THIS LIST OF, OF APPLICANTS OR SUBMISSIONS, WE DID HAVE ALL THE DATA.

WE HAD THE NUMBER OF ACRES, THE COST FOR EACH OF THE 27 PROJECTS, AND THEN WE, YOU KNOW, USING THE MATRIX, NARROWED IT DOWN TO, UH, TO, TO THESE PROJECTS.

AND SO WE KIND OF TOOK INTO ACCOUNT, UH, UM, ALL, ALL OF THOSE, UH, I GUESS ALL THOSE CRITERIA WITHOUT THE YEAH, WITHOUT THE NAMES.

WELL, WHAT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD? UH, I'LL MAKE THE MOTION FOR THE BOARD TO APPROVE THE 16 APPLICATIONS, UH, THAT WAS RECOMMENDED BY THE AD HOC COMMITTEE AS LONG AS, UH, IN THE CHAIRMAN SIGNING THEM, NOTHING DRAMATIC CHANGES WITH THEM OR IF THERE'S NO ISSUES, BUT JUST TO HAVE 'EM SIGNED AS IS RIGHT NOW.

I THINK THE ONE, AND THIS IS, YEAH, I'LL SECOND THAT.

GROUND SO WE DON'T GET HOODWINKED.

AND, AND JUST, UH, AND, AND ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE HAD ASKED STAFF TO DO WAS TO FOLLOW UP WITH A SITE VISIT AT EACH PROJECT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE APPLICATION MATCHES THE BOOTS ON THE

[00:40:01]

YOU KNOW, THAT'S ONE OF MY BIG FEARS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY'S FIGURED OUT A WAY TO GAME THE SYSTEM AND WE MISS IT.

SO, UM, OKAY.

QUESTION? YES.

WHO, WHO ON THE STAFF IS GONNA DO THAT? OKAY.

ADRIAN AND LACEY.

PERFECT.

ADRIAN , THEY'RE ALREADY ON THE PAYROLL.

YOU KNOW, THE COUNTY'S FOOTING A LOT OF THE BILL OF A LOT OF THIS STUFF.

UH, I MEAN, WE GET REIMBURSED, BUT WE, WE, WE, IT, IT WORKS OUT GOOD FOR THE GSA.

UM, I HAVE A MOTION BY, UH, SU, UH, DIRECTOR PADRE, UH, SECOND BY DIRECTOR MARTINI.

PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

VICE CHAIRMAN MARTINI AYE.

AND CHAIRMAN PER AYE ITEM AYE PASSES, SIR.

TWO ITEM SEVEN, WHICH IS OUR, UH, HAREM CRABTREE SONTAG CONTRACT AMENDMENT, AND I WILL TURN IT OVER TO, UH, LACEY.

WE'LL NOW MOVE ON TO, UH,

[7. HERUM CRABTREE SUNTAG CONTRACT AMENDMENT]

SO HAREM CRABTREE SONTAG HAS BEEN PROVIDING GENERAL COUNSEL SERVICES TO THE LEGAL SERVICES TO THE GSA THROUGH JEANIE ZAZI SINCE 2017.

THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT WITH HARAM CRABTREE CAG WAS AMENDED BY THIS BOARD TO EXTEND THE TERM TO AUGUST OF 2023 AND THE COMPENSATION TO A TOTAL AMOUNT OF 200,000.

AT THIS TIME.

WHILE THERE IS STILL REMAINING TERM LEFT, THE COMPENSATION IS LESS THAN 10% REMAINING.

THE GSA NEED FOR ILLEGAL SUPPORT HAS INCREASED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS DUE TO THE SIGNIFICANT POLICY POLICY ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT THIS GSA HAS ACHIEVED, INCLUDING REVISING AND ADOPTING THE AMENDED GS P RESPONDING TO DW R'S COMMENTS, DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A WELL CONSISTENCY POLICY TO COMPLY WITH COUNTY AND STATE EXECUTIVE ORDER REQUIREMENTS, DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A LAND REPURPOSING PROGRAM AND SUCCESSFULLY ADOPTING A PROPOSITION TWO 18 FEE TO FUND PHASE ONE OF THE TWO PHASE GSP IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH, WHICH IS ALL JUST IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE.

AS THE GSA WORKS THROUGH PHASE ONE PROGRAMS OF LAND REPURPOSING AND THE PHASE TWO ALLOCATION POLICIES, IT'S ANTICIPATED THAT THE GSA WILL CONTINUE TO RELY HEAVILY ON LEGAL COUNSEL EXPERTISE.

THIS AMENDMENT INCREASES THE COMPENSATION AMOUNT BY 100,000 AND EXTENDS THE TERM TO JUNE 30TH, 2024.

THIS INCREASE IN COMPENSATION IS ESTIMATED BASED ON THE LAST TWO YEARS OF LEGAL SERVICES COSTS, WHICH HAVE INCREASED AS THE GSA HAS TAKEN MORE ACTION AND STARTED PUTTING DEMAND REDUCTION ACTIVITIES IN PLACE.

THE GSA HAS ADEQUATE FUNDING BUDGETED FOR LEGAL SERVICES FOR FISCAL YEAR 20 22, 20 23 TO COVER THIS CONTRACT INCREASE.

AND STAFF DID CONFIRM THAT HAREM CRABTREE SONTAG CONTINUES TO NOT HAVE ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THE MERCED SUB BASIN FOR THIS LEGAL SUPPORT FOR THE GSA.

SO THE ACTION FOR CONSIDERATION IS TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT AMENDMENT WITH HARAM CRABTREE SONTAG FOR LEGAL SERVICES, INCREASING THE COMPENSATION BY A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND EXTENDING THE TERM TO JUNE 30TH, 2024.

UM, DOES THIS A HUNDRED THOUSAND, UH, HAVE BUILT INTO IT, UH, AT LEAST SOME OF THE POTENTIAL COST FOR THE LITIGATION BY POTENTIAL LITIGATION THAT THAT WOULD COME OUT OF THIS A HUNDRED THOUSAND.

UM, ANY QUESTIONS FROM MY COLLEAGUES OR COMMENTS? LACEY, HOW MUCH IS LEFT ON THE CONTRACT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW WITH THEM? UH, LESS THAN 10%.

IT WAS LESS THAN $20,000 AT THE END OF NOVEMBER, AND THEN IN YOUR DECEMBER, YOU JUST APPROVED, UM, SEVERAL THOUSAND, 5,000 IN, UH, EXPENSES.

SCENE, UH, CAN YOU TURN THE LIGHTS BACK UP, PLEASE? I'LL OPEN UP AT, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT, OUR FOUR PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

IS THERE ANY ONLINE? THERE'S NONE ONLINE.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

UH, WHAT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD? SOMEBODY GOTTA, YEAH.

MAKE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE AMENDMENT AND INCREASE THE COMPENSATION BY A HUNDRED THOUSAND.

IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND THAT.

I, I HAVE A MOTION BY, UH, DIRECTOR DREYER AND A SECOND BY DIRECTOR MARTINI.

PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

MOVE ON TO, UH, ITEM EIGHT, WHICH IS THE, UH, ZAN HARO CONTRACT AMENDMENT LACEY.

MR. DREYER? AFFIRMATIVE.

MR. PADRE? AYE.

MR. SWENSON AYE.

VICE CHAIRMAN MARTINI

[00:45:02]

AYE.

AND CHAIRMAN PERRERA AYE.

AND SIR, ITEM PASSES.

MOTION CARRIES A UNANIMOUSLY THANK YOU.

[8. ZANJERO CONTRACT AMENDMENT]

SO ZHA, UH, FORMERLY TULLEY AND YOUNG HAS BEEN PROVIDING STRATEGIC PLANNING AND WATER RESOURCES EXPERTISE TO THE GSA THROUGH A CONTRACT THAT THEY'VE HAD WITH THE COUNTY OF MERCED SINCE 2019.

THE COUNTY OF MERCED HAS COVERED THESE COSTS.

IN EARLY 2022, THE MERCED GSA ENTERED INTO A CONTRACT WITH ZAN HARROW FOR SUPPORT FOR THE PHASE ONE GSP IMPLEMENTATION FEES PROPOSITION TWO 18 PROCEEDING AND ENGINEER'S REPORT.

IN ADDITION TO THE SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSITION TWO 18 PROCEEDING, GREG YOUNG WITH ZHE HAS PROVIDED SUPPORT TO THE GSA ON DEMAND REDUCTION ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT GUIDANCE ON THE TWO PHASED GSP IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE ONE FOR WELL CONSISTENCY.

MR. YOUNG HAS BEEN AVAILABLE TO BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF AND HAS PROVIDED SUPPORT TO THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND OTHER AD HOC COMMITTEES OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.

THIS AMENDMENT TO THE Z HERRO CONTRACT WITH THE MERCED SUB BASIN GSA WOULD INCREASE THE SCOPE OF SERVICES UNDER THE GSA CONTRACT TO INCLUDE MANY OF THE SERVICES THAT ZAN HERRO HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVIDING TO THE GSA.

THE EXPANDED SCOPE INCLUDES CONTINUING TO ASSIST WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE ONE, THE GSP CONSISTENCY CRITERIA FOR WELL CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS, UH, PROVIDING STRATEGIC AND ADVISORY SUPPORT TO THE GSA GOVERNING BOARD AND COMMITTEES, AND PROVIDING THE STRATEGIC SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE TWO PHASED GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH, INCLUDING LAND REPURPOSING ALLOCATION DEVELOPMENT, AND CONSIDERATION OF PHASE TWO FUNDING OPTIONS AND OTHER TASKS AS IDENTIFIED BY THE GSA STAFF AND THE GOVERNING BOARD.

THE AMENDMENT ADDS COMPENSATION TO THE EXISTING CONTRACT AND THE AMOUNT OF $75,000 FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $110,000.

THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT AMOUNT WAS FOR 35,000.

ADDITIONALLY, THE CONTRACT TERM WILL BE EXTENDED TO THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR, WHICH IS JUNE 30TH, 2023.

THE GSA FISCAL BUDGET THIS YEAR INCLUDES 250,000 FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES, WHICH IS ADEQUATE FOR INCLUDING THIS CONTRACT AS WELL AS OTHER EXISTING TECHNICAL SERVICES CONTRACTS AND STAFF IS ANTICIPATING BRINGING THIS CONTRACT BACK TO THE BOARD AGAIN IN APRIL OF 2023 FOR FURTHER DIRECTION ON STRATEGIC POLICY SUPPORT, WHETHER THE BOARD PREFERS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS CONTRACT OR POTENTIALLY RE A, UH, REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PROCESS.

SO THE ACTION FOR CONSIDERATION IS TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT AMENDMENT WITH SAN HARROW FOR SUPPORT OF THE WELL, CONSISTENCY, DETERMINATION, STRATEGIC PLANNING, AND OTHER TECHNICAL AND POLICY SUPPORT, INCREASING THE COMPENSATION BY $750,000 AND EXTENDING THE TERM TO JUNE 30TH, 2023.

ANY, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? SO THIS LACI WOULD BE A NEW COST TO THE GSA BECAUSE THE WAY I UNDERSTAND IT, BEFORE, UH, THE COUNTY WAS NICE ENOUGH TO FOOT THE BILL FOR GREG.

SO FAR, YES, UNTIL NOW, THE, THE FUNDING FOR THE CONTRACT THAT Z HARROW HAS WITH THE COUNTY WAS COVERED BY THE COUNTY AND IT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE COUNTY SUPPORT SERVICES CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE WHERE THE GSA REIMBURSES THE COUNTY FOR STAFF SUPPORT TIME.

WE DID NOT INCLUDE A Z HARROW SUPPORT IN THAT STAFF SUPPORT TIME.

SO WHEN WE DID WHAT IS NEW? NEW, I'M SORRY, NEW EXPENSE WHEN WE DID THE BUDGET LAST SUMMER, UH, DO WE HAVE THIS IN THE BUDGET TO COVER THIS ADDITIONAL EXPENSE? WE, WE HAD 250,000 FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN THE BUDGET, AND THAT INCLUDED, UM, THE E K I CONTRACT, WHICH AT THE TIME WAS A HUNDRED THOUSAND AND THERE WAS ALSO ROOM FOR SHIFTING THIS CONTRACT OVER.

WE'RE EXPERIENCING NOW IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WHICH IS GONNA CHANGE WHAT WE HAVEN'T BUDGETED FOR? OR DO YOU THINK WE'RE GONNA STAY WITHIN OUR BUDGET? I I THINK YOU ARE GOING TO STAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? SCENE? NONE.

I'LL OPEN UP FOR A PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

DAVE NARINO AGAIN TO, UM, GO ON GINO'S FURTHER.

A LITTLE BIT FURTHER.

LACEY.

UM, OKAY, SO YOU'VE GOT THIS ONE COVERED.

THE LAST A HUNDRED THOUSAND INCREASE ALSO, I ASSUME IS COVERED.

WE HAVE A THIRD PROPOSAL HERE FOR ANOTHER A HUNDRED THOUSAND.

WILL THAT ALSO BE COVERED BY THE PREVIOUS BUDGET OR ARE WE GOING TO BE, UM, DIPPING IN AND CHANGING THE BUDGET? SO THE, THE NEXT ITEM THAT, THAT YOU'VE GLANCED OUT ON THE AGENDA IS GRANT REIMBURSED.

AND SO THAT WILL BE COVERED BY GRANT FUND.

DO YOU FORESEE ANY MORE FUTURE INCREASES LIKE THESE THAT

[00:50:01]

I, I DO ANTICIPATE THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN JANUARY, BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO AMEND ANYTHING YOU GUYS HAVEN'T ALREADY APPROVED.

YOU, YOU APPROVED A BUDGET IN JUNE AND THEN YOU APPROVED A, UM, PROPOSITION TWO 18 FEE IN JULY, AND SO THAT PROPOSITION TWO 18 FEE WAS NOT IN YOUR ORIGINAL BUDGET.

SO WE ARE GONNA CLEAN UP THAT BUDGET IN JANUARY, BUT THAT DOESN'T CHANGE WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN NOTHING SIGNIFICANT IT LOOKS LIKE.

PERFECT.

UM, JUST FOR PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY, IN THE LAST ISSUE WE WERE DEALING WITH OUR, UM, CONTRACTS AND YOU DIDN'T DISCLOSE WHOSE NAMES WERE ON THE CONTRACTS, I'M TOTALLY CONFIDENT THAT THERE WOULD NOT BE ANY BOARD MEMBERS THAT WOULD'VE VOTED ON THAT OR HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS THAT ARE BEING GIVEN CONTRACTS WHERE THEY WOULD'VE DISAVOWED, YOU KNOW, WALKED AWAY FOR A NON-CLOUD CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

I AM ASSUMING THAT THAT'S CORRECT.

ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? LLOYD? I JUST, OH, WELL I'M OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, SO WHEN I NO, IT'S, IT'S A RESPONSE TO HIS COMMENT.

YEAH, BUT WE DON'T DO THAT.

I MEAN, JUST INFORMATION.

YEAH, I KNOW, BUT THAT'S PUBLIC COMMENT IS FOR THEM TO TELL US STUFF, NOT REALLY TO ASK QUESTIONS, BUT DAVE'S KIND OF, HE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON.

UM, ANYWAYS, UM, OKAY.

UH, ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? SORRY? ANYBODY ONLINE? NONE ONLINE.

I'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT AND BRING IT BACK TO THE BOARD.

NOW, ERIC, IF YOU'VE GOT COMMENT YOU WANNA MAKE, YOU'RE WELCOME TO.

I JUST WANTED TO TELL MR. NAVO THAT IN 2023, THE, THE GSA IS PLANNING ON BRINGING ANOTHER STAFF PERSON ON FULL-TIME AND THAT WILL HOPEFULLY MOVE SOME OF THE EXPENDITURES FROM CONSULTANTS TO IN-HOUSE STAFF, WHICH SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS EXPENSIVE THAT WE BUDGET.

UM, ANY OTHER COMMENT? OH, I WAS JUST, OR MAKE A MOTION, I GOTTA MAKE A MOTION.

NO, I WAS JUST WONDERING, UH, WITH LEGAL PROCEEDINGS COMING UP, IF HE'D TAKE OFF THE TIME AND A HALF DEAL, GREG ON HIS CONTRACT, BUT HE'S NOT HERE.

OH, NO, HE STEPPED OUTTA THE ROOM FOR, UH, THEN I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT WITH ZEN HARROW, UH, FOR 75,000, UH, MORE WITH THE CONTRACT TERM ENDING JUNE 30TH, 2023.

OKAY, I'LL SECOND THAT.

I HAVE A MOTION BY DIRECTOR PEDRETTI AND A SECOND BY DIRECTOR SWINSON, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL MR. DREYER.

VICE CHAIRMAN MARTINI AYE.

AND CHAIRMAN PERRERA AYE.

INSERTED THE ITEM PASSES.

WE'LL MOVE ON TO, UH, ITEM NINE, WHICH IS OUR A K I WATER AND ENVIRONMENT CONTRACT AMENDMENT.

OKAY,

[9. EKI WATER AND ENVIRONMENT CONTRACT AMENDMENT]

LACEY.

SO THIS NEXT AMENDMENT ACTUALLY, UM, CAME UP PRETTY QUICKLY AND SO I'M GONNA PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND FOR YOU GUYS AS WELL.

UM, THIS IS AN AMENDMENT TO E K I'S TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES CONTRACT.

UM, IT'S MOVING QUICKLY BECAUSE, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO MEET EXTERNAL GRANT DEADLINES RELATED TO THE DATA GAP FILLING ACTIVITIES.

SO IN 2019, THE MERCED SUB BASIN WAS AWARDED A SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT SIGMA PLANNING GRANT, WHICH INCLUDED A COMPONENT FOR ADDRESSING DATA GAPS AT A COST OF $359,522.

THE ADDRESSING DATA GAPS COMPONENT INCLUDED THE TASKS OF DEVELOPING A PLAN TO ADDRESS DATA GAPS, THE PLAN DESIGN AND INSTALLATION OF A MINIMUM OF TWO SHALLOW MONITORING WELLS, OR A MINIMUM OF ONE DEEP MONITORING WELL IN CRITICAL LOCATIONS IDENTIFIED BY THE DATA GAPS PLAN, AND TO UPDATE AND INCORPORATE EXISTING WELLS INTO THE MONITORING NETWORK.

THE DEADLINE TO COMPLETE THIS WORK IS MARCH 31ST, 2023 IN ORDER TO BE REIMBURSED BY THE GRANT AWARD.

THE FIRST TWO TASKS OF DEVELOPING THE DATA GAPS PLAN AND INSTALLING A MONITORING WELL HAVE EITHER BEEN COMPLETED OR ARE UNDER CONTRACT.

IN A PAST MEETING, YOU RECEIVED A PRESENTATION FROM WOODARD AND KERAN ON THE COMPLETION OF THE DATA GAPS PLAN AND A NESTED MONITORING WELL IS UNDER CONTRACT FOR THENCE AREA.

THE TASK PRESENTED FOR THE E K I AMENDMENT IS TO IDENTIFY AND UPDATE EXISTING WELLS FOR ADDITION INTO THE MONITORING NETWORK.

TO DATE, MERCEDES IRRIGATION DISTRICT HAS BEEN ADMINISTERING AND COMPLETING THIS WORK ON BEHALF OF THE GSAS IN THE BASIN.

AND STAFF OF ALL THREE GSAS HAVE WORKED TOGETHER TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL EXISTING CANDIDATE WELLS TO INVESTIGATE.

AND M I

[00:55:01]

D HAS BEEN WORKING ON CONTRACTING WITH A FIRM TO COMPLETE THIS WORK.

IN LATE NOVEMBER, IT CAME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT M I D HAS HAD TROUBLE SECURING A CONTRACT FOR THE WORK TO UPDATE AND INCORPORATE EXISTING WELLS INTO THE MONITORING NETWORK, WHICH INCLUDES VIDEO LOGGING AND POTENTIALLY INSTRUMENTING WELLS.

THROUGH CONVERSATION M I D STAFF ASKED IF THE MERCED BASIN GSA WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ON THIS PART OF THE PROJECT FOR WELLS IDENTIFIED IN THE MERCED SUB BASIN GS A'S JURISDICTION.

PART OF THE REASONING IS THAT THE ACCESS AGREEMENT FOR THIS WORK WOULD BE WITH THE MS. GSA AND THE INSTRUMENTATION WOULD EVENTUALLY BELONG TO THE MS GSA DUE TO THE MARCH DEADLINE TO COMPLETE THE WORK.

THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME TO COMPLETE AN RFP PROCESS.

HOWEVER, THE GSA HAS AN EXISTING CONTRACT WITH E K I, SPECIFICALLY FOR THESE TYPE OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.

E K I HAS COMPLETED THIS EXACT WORK FOR INVESTIGATING WELLS FOR ADDITION INTO THE MONITORING NETWORKS FOR OTHER GSAS IN OTHER BASINS IN CALIFORNIA.

THIS AMENDMENT WOULD INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THE E K I CONTRACT TO COM COMPLETE THESE ACTIVITIES AND INCREASE THE BUDGET TO THE GRANT FUNDED THE GRANT FUNDING AWARD FOR THIS TASK OF $111,500.

IF YOU'LL REMEMBER THE, I THINK I MAY HAVE MENTIONED THAT THE GRANT FUNDING FOR THIS TASK IS 113,000 THOUSAND, BUT WE DO HAVE TO SHARE THE GRANT FUNDING WITH MIA GUA, WHO'S IDENTIFIED THREE WELLS FOR INVESTIGATION AND POTENTIAL INCLUSION IN THE MONITORING NETWORK.

AND SO WE DID REDUCE THE AMOUNT THAT WE'RE ANTICIPATING FOR THE MERCED BASIN GSA IN ORDER TO BE SURE THAT THE WORK WE DO IS REIMBURSED BY THE GRANT.

SO WE, WE HAVE TO SHARE THE FUNDING ESSENTIALLY, UH, THIS ADDRESSING DATA GAPS COMPONENT'S PURPOSE IS TO IDENTIFY EXISTING WELLS THAT FIT SPECIFIC CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION IN THE FORMAL MONITORING NETWORK.

ACCORDING TO THE G S P IN FOR THE MERCED BASIN, THE MONITORING NETWORK WELLS ARE MONITORED MONTHLY.

THE GSP IDENTIFIES CRITERIA FROM D W'S BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR WELLS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE FORMAL MONITORING NETWORK.

AND THE GSA ALSO HAS USED THE 2010, 2010 CASH GEN DW R GROUNDWATER GUIDELINES AS A REFERENCE FOR IDENTIFYING WELLS AS WELL.

CANDIDATE WELLS ARE EXISTING WELLS THAT ARE NOT CURRENTLY PRODUCTION WELLS.

THE GSP CALLS FOR STATIC GROUNDWATER LEVELS AND CALLS FOR THE WELLS TO BE OFF FOR 48 HOURS PRIOR TO TAKING THE MEASUREMENT.

SO PRODUCTION WELLS ARE NOT A GOOD CANDIDATE TO MEET THIS REQUIREMENT AND WE DON'T WANNA ASK A GROWERS TO TURN OFF THEIR PRODUCTION WELLS FOR 48 HOURS EVERY MONTH.

THIS TASK VIDEO LOGS EXISTING WELLS TO IDENTIFY THE SCREEN INTERVAL DEPTH IN ADDITION TO OTHER CONSTRUCTION DETAILS.

THE MONITORING NETWORK INCLUDES WELLS TO MONITOR SPECIFIC AQUIFERS IN THE BASIN.

THE ABOVE COR, THE CORCORAN CLAY AQUIFER, THE BELOW THE CORCORAN CLAY AQUIFER AND THE OUTSIDE THE CORCORAN CLAY AQUIFER.

WE MUST KNOW THE SCREENING TO KNOW WHICH AQUIFER THE WELLS WOULD BE MONITORING.

AND FINALLY, THIS COMPONENT IS SPECIFICALLY TO FILL DATA GAPS IDENTIFIED IN THE DATA GAPS PLAN.

UH, SHOWN IS A MAP WHERE THE IDENTIFIED DATA GAPS ARE IN THE MERCED SUB-BASIN GSA AND THE OTHER GSAS IN THE BASIN WORKING WITH GROWERS AND REPRESENTATIVES.

WE'VE IDENTIFIED CANDIDATE WELLS IN SEVERAL OF THESE AREAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR AVAILABLE WELLS.

STAFF HAS REACHED OUT TO BOARD MEMBERS, THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND THE BASIN STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE LOOKING FOR ASSISTANCE IN IDENTIFYING EXISTING WELLS IN THESE AREA.

IN THESE AREAS, MOST OF THE EXISTING WELLS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED SO FAR ARE NOT IN USE.

AFTER EXHAUSTING THE, THE EXISTING WELLS TO INCLUDE IN THE MONITORING NETWORK, THE GSAS CAN THEN TURN TO INSTALLING DEDICATED MONITORING WELLS TO FILL THE EXISTING DATA GAPS.

USING EXISTING WELLS IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN DRILLING NEW MONITORING WELLS.

AND THE MERCED BASIN HAS RECEIVED APPROXIMATELY 450,000 IN THE SGM SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION GRANT, WHICH WAS AWARDED EARLIER THIS YEAR TO INSTALL FOUR TO FIVE MONITORING WELLS TO FILL DATA GAPS AND WILL TAKE THE NEXT STEPS AFTER IDENTIFYING THE EXISTING WELLS TO INSTALL NEW WELLS TO FILL THOSE DATA GAPS.

SO THIS IS A STEP BY STEP PROCESS.

THE OPTION BEFORE THE BOARD TODAY IS TO APPROVE AN AMENDMENT WITH E K I TO SHIFT THIS WORK FROM M I D TO THE MERCED SUB BASIN GSA FOR WELLS WITHIN THE G SSA'S JURISDICTION OR TO CONTINUE WITH M I D LEADING THIS PROJECT FOR ALL THE WELLS AT THIS, AT THIS TIME, M I D IS STILL WORKING ON CONTRACTING FOR THIS WORK TO BE COMPLETED FOR EITHER ONLY THEIR WELLS OR FOR POTENTIALLY ALL OF THE WELLS IDENTIFIED.

SO IF THIS GSA CHOOSES, UM, THEY CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE M I D LEAD THIS PROJECT.

AND SINCE THIS ITEM

[01:00:01]

HAS BEEN ON AN EXPEDITED TIMELINE, THE AMENDMENT LANGUAGE IS STILL BEING FINALIZED AND THE ACTION FOR CONSIDERATION IS TO APPROVE ENTERING A CONTRACT AMENDMENT WITH E K I, BASED ON THE PROPOSAL INCLUDED IN THE, UH, AGENDA PACKET FOR GRANT FUNDED DATA GAP ACTIVITIES AND THE AUTHORIZING THE CHAIR TO SIGN THE AMENDMENT LANGUAGE UPON LEGAL COUNSEL REVIEW.

HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

ANY QUESTIONS OR, UH, COMMENTS? ALL THANK YOU MR. CHAIRMAN.

I HAVE REVIEWED THE PROPOSAL THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE BOARD PACKAGES AND I THINK THAT ONE THING THAT'S MISSING IS I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PRESENTATION OF A COST AND SCHEDULE TO FULFILL THE DATA GAPS PLAN.

THERE ARE CURRENTLY, AS I COUNT 38 NEW LOCATIONS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MONITORED AS PART OF THE DATA GAPS PLAN.

THAT INCLUDES SOME COMMON LOCATIONS OF ABOVE AND BELOW COR IN MONITORING.

BUT I THINK A PORTION OF THIS GRANT FUNDING SHOULD BE EXPENDED TO DEVELOP A PLAN.

AND I WOULD THINK THAT THE PLAN SHOULD INCLUDE FILLING ALL THE DATA GAPS WITHIN 18 TO 24 MONTHS OF TODAY.

BECAUSE AS WE MOVE INTO ALLOCATIONS, IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME BASELINE DATA PRIOR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALLOCATIONS.

SOME OF THE WORK DESCRIBED IN THIS CURRENT SCOPE OF WORK I DO NOT THINK CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT IS BEING STATED.

I WORKED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS FOR A FIRM THAT COMMONLY DID VIDEOING OF WELLS, REPAIR OF WELLS REMOVAL AND REINSTALLATION OF WELLS, AND THAT WAS PART OF MY NORMAL WORK.

WE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO, IN ANY CASE, VIDEO PRODUCTION WELLS WITHOUT REMOVAL OF THE ENTIRE PUMP STRINGING FIRST IN REINSTALLATION.

AND THE COST OF DOING THAT IS SIGNIFICANT AND WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE BUDGET OF THIS PROPOSAL.

I DO THINK THAT NOT USING PRODUCTION WELLS IS ALSO A MISTAKE BECAUSE A LOT OF THE OLDER WELLS THAT NO LONGER HAVE PUMPS IN THEM ARE MUCH SHALLOWER THAN THE NEWER PRODUCTION WELLS THAT DO HAVE PUMPS IN THEM.

SO I THINK THAT THIS PROPOSAL NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED TO FIND AN APPROACH TO MONITOR ACTIVE PRODUCTION WELLS.

IF YOU ARE GETTING CONTINUOUS DATA ON PUMPING WATER LEVELS, YOU CAN TELL WHEN THE PUMP COMES ON AND WHEN THE PUMP TURNS OFF.

SO KNOWING TIMES AND INTERVALS OF NON PUMPING IS NOT DIFFICULT.

SO I REALLY THINK THAT EVEN THOUGH I AGREE, AGREE A HUNDRED PERCENT, WE NEED TO SPEND THIS MONEY ON FILLING DATA GAPS, I THINK WE NEED A PLAN, A SCHEDULE TO FILL ALL THE DATA GAPS.

AND I THINK THE PLAN NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED TO MEET TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES THAT WE KNOW WORK AND ARE PROVEN IN THE SUB-BASIN.

SO, UH, CHRIS ARE YOU STILL ON? YES, I AM.

I THINK IT'S THREE IS WHAT WE, WHAT WE PENCILED IN THERE.

COULD YOU ADDRESS, UH, ERIC'S CONCERN ABOUT, UH, UM, UH, PUTTING A CAMERA DOWN THE WELLS THAT, THAT HAVE, UH, PUMPS IN THEM AND HOW YOU PLAN TO DO THAT? YES.

UM, SO WHAT I UNDERSTAND, UH, FROM TALKING WITH GSA STAFF IS THAT THE 12 OR SO CANDIDATE WELLS OR CANDIDATE AREAS THAT HAVE SORT OF PRELIMINARY IDENTIFIED WELLS, UM, ARE DO NOT HAVE ANY PUMPS IN THEM.

SO THEY WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, INACTIVE WELLS AND ALSO DON'T HAVE PUMPS IN THEM, UH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TWO.

UM, I'M TOLD TO MAY HAVE PUMPS IN THEM, BUT THEY WERE NOT, YOU KNOW, SORT OF ACTIVE PUMPS.

UH, AND IF THEY HAD PUMPS THAT NEEDED TO BE, UM, PULLED OUT, THAT WOULD BE SORT OF A, UH, AN ACTIVITY THAT WOULD BE DONE WITHOUT PUTTING THE PUMP BACK IN THE WELD CUZ IT'S, AGAIN, IT'S NOT BEING USED INSTEAD OF THE PUMP COULD COME OUT, BUT IT WOULDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO GO BACK IN AND BE RECONNECTED TO ANY, ANY, UH, WATER PIPELINE SYSTEM THAT, THAT'S WHAT I, UM, HAVE BEEN.

UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING.

UM, I DEFINITELY AGREE, UH, WITH DIRECTOR SWENSON THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE EVENT THAT A, UH, EXISTING ACTIVELY USED PUMP, UM, IS IN THE WELL AND, AND WOULD HAVE TO BE TAKEN OUT AND, UH, REINSTALLED THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT EXPENSE.

UM, IN OUR PROPOSED, UM, SCOPE AND BUDGET, WE SET ASIDE $25,000 OF THAT AMOUNT AS A CONTINGENCY, UM, FOR SUCH INSTANCES LIKE WHERE THAT MIGHT HAPPEN.

AND WE, UM, ADDED A, AN ASSUMPTION OF SORT OF HOW MANY, UH, PUMP POLES THAT CONTINGENCY BUDGET COULD COVER.

UM,

[01:05:01]

UM, CUZ YES, YOU KNOW, IT'S PROBABLY UPWARDS OF, YOU KNOW, 5, 6, 7, $8,000 DEPENDING ON THE CONDITION, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, TO DO THAT PUMP BOWL AND REPLACEMENT.

SO DEFINITELY AGREE THAT THAT CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT EXPENSIVE IF IT HAS TO TAKE PLACE.

UM, BUT FOR THE SCOPE THAT WE'RE, THAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU, UM, THE ASSUMPTION IS BASED ON INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE AT, AT HAND THAT, UM, THESE WELLS DON'T HAVE PUMPS IN THEM.

GOOD.

SO, UH, MORE QUESTIONS FOR YOU GUYS ON THAT.

SO THERE'S 12 WELLS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.

SO, UM, EXCUSE ME, I I I'VE GONE OUT, I'VE WORKED WITH, UH, BRAD SAMUELSON, WHO REPRESENTS A LOT OF THE DISTRICTS AND GROWERS IN THIS AREA, AND WHO HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL IN TRYING TO FIND THESE, UM, NOT ABANDONED, BUT WELLS THAT ARE NOT IN USE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO ASK GROWERS TO TURN OFF THEIR PRODUCTION WELLS FOR 48 HOURS, WHICH IS WHAT'S REQUIRED IN OUR GS P IN ORDER TO USE A PRODUCTION WELL IN THE MONITORING NETWORK.

SO BRAD AND I HAVE IDENTIFIED ABOUT, UH, 10 TO 12 WELLS THAT FILL SOME OF THESE, UM, DATA GAP AREAS THAT YOU SEE HERE ON THE SCREEN.

IF, IF WE CAN FIND MORE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.

UM, WE, THERE'S MORE FOOTWORK THAT HAS TO BE DONE FROM THE BEGINNING JUST TO INVESTIGATE THESE WELLS, UM, AND SEE IF THEY ARE TRULY APPROPRIATE FOR INCLUDING IN THE MONITORING NETWORK.

SOME OF THEM MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE AND THEY, THEY JUST WOULDN'T WORK.

SO, SO THE, THE WELLS ARE ALL ON THE, UH, WHAT'S UP ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW? THEY ARE EITHER WITHIN THE CIRCLE OF THOSE DOTS AND YEAH, BUT WITHIN, THERE'S MORE THAN, THERE'S MORE THAN 10 ON THE SCREEN, RIGHT? SO THERE'S, YEAH, THERE'S 13, THERE'S MANY, BUT, BUT THE A THAT'S THE DATA GAPS PLAN FOR THE DATA GAPS PLAN, RIGHT.

BUT WERE THE, THE WELLS THEN, HOW MANY, IF THEY'RE NOT ON IT, HOW MANY ARE ABOVE CORCORAN CLAY, BELOW CORCORAN CLAY, OUTSIDE CORCORAN CLAY? OR DO YOU GUYS HAVE THAT INFO YET, OR NOT QUITE? WE'VE GOT, WE, I I WOULD SAY IT'S PRELIMINARY IS THE INFORMATION I'VE GOT TODAY.

I'VE GOT ABOUT FIVE WELLS THAT ARE ABOVE, UM, OUR, OUR AREAS WHERE WE'RE INVESTIGATING THERE THAT WE'VE HEARD THERE'S A WELL AND WE'RE INVESTIGATING AREAS ABOVE.

I'VE GOT FOUR BELOW AND I'VE GOT THREE OUTSIDE OF THE CORCORAN.

AND SO GOING OFF OF ERIC'S QUESTION, WE DO HAVE SOME BELOW, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE NOT PROBABLY ACTIVELY BEING USED RIGHT NOW FROM WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.

SO FROM WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM THE, UM, LANDOWNER OF THOSE WELLS, THEY THINK THEY'RE SUB CORCORAN, BUT WE NEED TO VIDEO THEM TO SEE EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE SCREENED BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW FOR CERTAIN AND WE DON'T HAVE WELL COMPLETION REPORTS FOR MANY OF OR ANY OF THESE.

I, UNLESS THEY'RE PRETTY SHALLOW, IT'S MORE THAN THAT OR ANY COMPANY AROUND HERE, SO.

AND THEN THIS MIGHT BE A QUESTION FOR CHRIS, BUT AS PART, PART OF THE BUDGET HERE, INCLUDING THE GSA IS NOT GONNA BE CHARGED FOR PULLING OUT THE WELLS, THEY'RE GONNA HIRE A THIRD PARTY COMPANY TO DO, DO THE VIDEOING PULLING THE WELLS IF THEY NEED TO BE PULLED, THAT'S ALL GONNA BE BILLED THROUGH E K I AND AS PART OF THE 111,500, RIGHT.

WHERE THERE'S NOT GONNA BE ANY EXTRA ADDED ONTO US, US AS IN THE GSA? THAT'S CORRECT.

THE, UM, THE E K I PROPOSAL INCLUDES COSTS FOR A CONTRACTOR TO DO THE VIDEO LOGGING.

IT ALSO INCLUDES, UM, YOU KNOW, INSTRUMENTATION EQUIPMENT COSTS, AND I CAN, I CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

UM, AND AS I SAID, THE THE ASSUMPTION IS THAT NONE OF THE WELLS HAVE PUMPS THAT NEED TO BE PULLED, BUT WE HAVE SET ASIDE, YOU KNOW, A $25,000, UM, CONTINGENCY BUDGET TO COVER, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE COSTS, IF THEY SHOULD, IF THEY SHOULD BE NECESSARY.

AND, AND AS PART OF THE, UH, EXECUTION OF THIS SCOPE, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD BE IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE GSA, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE THOSE SORT OF DECISIONS ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, THE COST BENEFIT OF, UH, ANY PARTICULAR, YOU KNOW, PUMP PULL THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE DONE.

MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, GETTING AS MUCH COVERAGE AS POSSIBLE FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT USING UP, UH, EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF BUDGET FOR ANY SPECIFIC, UM, LOCATION.

BECAUSE CHRIS, I DO SEE AN ISSUE THAT IF THERE ARE WELLS ON THERE THAT HAVE BE PULLED, THEN REPLACED 25,000, IT'S GONNA GET YOU MAYBE TWO WELLS DEPENDING ON THE DEPTH, YOU KNOW, UH, JUST ROUGH.

I MEAN, IT'S NOT GONNA GET AS MUCH AS YOU GET YOUR NUMBERS.

YOUR SIX TO EIGHT, YOU SAID TO POOL EMS PROBABLY ON THE LOW SIDE, PRETTY LOW SIDE.

I, I THINK YOU SAID THREE FOR THE CONTINGENCY.

NO, UH, TO POOL.

HE MENTIONED EARLIER, I THINK HE SAID ROUGHLY SIX OR EIGHT, UH, HE WAS KIND OF FIGURING TO PULL WELLS, BUT

[01:10:01]

YEAH, NO, I DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THE ADDITIONAL COST.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, WE WOULD, WE WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, CONDUCT THE EVALUATION TO SEE IF THAT'S ACTUALLY NECESSARY.

I MEAN, PART OF THE SCOPE IS, UM, YOU KNOW, GETTING IN TOUCH WITH, UH, THE OWNERS AND GETTING, YOU KNOW, SITE VISITS AND PHOTOGRAPHS AND REALLY LOOKING AT IT BEFORE WE, YOU KNOW, EVEN MAKE THE DECISION OF IS IT WORTH TO TRY AND PULL THIS PUMP, UM, AND, AND REINSTALL IT.

LIKE IF, IF THAT'S, IF IT WERE A ACTIVELY USED PUMP PRODUCTION, WELL, AND, AND THE QUESTION WAS WHETHER TO PULL IT AND REINSTALL IT, KNOWING THAT THAT WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT COST, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL CIRCLE BACK WITH THE GSA TO, UH, TO HELP MAKE THOSE DECISIONS.

SO WE'RE APPROVING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT, NOT NECESSARILY THE INDIVIDUAL WELLS THAT ARE GONNA BE EVALUATED.

SO ERIC, I WOULD JUST, UM, LOOKING AT THE DATA GAPS PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS, I WOULD PUT AN EMPHASIS ON OBTAINING A WELL NEAR LOCATION, OH TWO, A EIGHT THREE, A FIVE, AND B SIX, UH, EVEN IF THOSE ARE PRODUCTION WELLS.

AND ONE THING I WANT TO POINT OUT IS IF YOU DO HAVE TO PULL A PRODUCTION WELL AND REINSTALL IT, THEN YOUR COST FOR A DEEP WELL IN MERCED COUNTY TO INSTRUMENT THAT TO READ AT THE SURFACE IS PROBABLY ABOUT $5,000 PER WELL.

BUT I THINK THAT, UH, ESPECIALLY AT LOCATION OH TWO, I THINK THAT WOULD BE WELL WORTH THE MONEY.

SO I THINK THAT SOME OF OUR HIGH INTEREST AREAS IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ALSO IN THE SUBSIDENCE AREA, WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE A PRIORITY PUT ON THOSE OF OBTAINING MORE DATA SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

ANY OTHER, UH, BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS? OKAY.

SEEING NOT ON, UH, ACTUALLY, UH, CAN I ASK ONE QUESTION? LORD, OF COURSE YOU CAN.

UM, CHRIS, SO WE'RE STILL TAKING, UH, IF I HAVE A WELL OR TWO THAT DOESN'T HAVE A PUMP IN IT, I MEAN, WE'RE STILL LOOKING FOR WELLS, CORRECT? I UNDERSTOOD YOU, RIGHT? YES.

TO EXPLORE, YES.

I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP WITH IN THE LEE GRAND PLAINSBURG AREA.

THAT'S GOOD.

AND, AND I HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT.

I MEAN, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS MORE OF A COMMENT THAN A QUESTION, BUT THIS WAS KIND OF, WE WANT TO TRY TO GET THE GRANT FUNDING, WE NEED TO GET THE GRANT FUNDING BEFORE IT RUNS OUT SO WE'RE NOT PAYING FOR THIS OUT OF POCKET IN THE FUTURE FROM THE GSA.

SO I MEAN, EVEN THIS WAS KIND OF HASTILY PUT TOGETHER, BUT WE KIND OF HAD TO, BECAUSE WE WERE UNDER THE ASSUMPTION BEFORE THAT M I D WAS GONNA TAKE CARE OF THIS, AND THEN WITHIN THE LAST MONTH OR SIX, TWO MONTHS, THEY JUST SAID THEY CAN'T REALLY GET THIS DONE IN TIME.

SO IF, IF YOU'D LIKE M I D TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS, THEY WILL, THEY'RE, I I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING TO FIND A CONTRACTOR FOR THEIR WELLS WITHIN THEIR GSA, AND WE COULD ASK THEM TO INCLUDE THESE AS WELL.

THIS IS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ON THE WELDS WITHIN YOUR OWN JURISDICTION.

YES.

BUT IT WAS ALSO KIND OF IMPLIED TO US THAT THEY WERE RUNNING BEHIND AND HAVING SOME ISSUES.

AND THAT'S WHY STAFF CAME FORWARD WITH THIS, EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMS PRETTY RUSHED IS BECAUSE WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING IT DONE IN TIME AND THOUGHT IT'D BE MORE APPROPRIATE FOR US TO TAKE, TAKE CHARGE OF IT.

SO WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO ADJUST THE SCOPE OF WORK TO INCLUDE A PLAN TO ADDRESS ALL OF THE DATA GAPS IN THE DATA GAPS PLAN? IT WOULD NOT BE FUNDED BY THE GRANT.

I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WAS A PLANNING GRANT.

IT'S A PLANNING GRANT, BUT THIS COMPONENT PAID FOR THE DATA GAPS PLAN, AND IT PAID FOR ONE MONITORING, WELL, ONE DEEP NESTED MONITORING.

WELL, AND IT PAYS FOR UPDATING EXISTING WELLS FOR INCLUSION IN THE MONITORING NETWORK.

SO THE ONLY TASK LEFT THAT DWR HAS APPROVED FUNDING FOR IS THE UPDATING EXISTING WELLS FOR, FOR INCLUSION IN THE MONITORING NETWORK.

AND THAT'S WHAT THIS, IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT A NEW GRANT, SORRY, APPROVED GRANT FROM A COUPLE YEARS AGO.

ANYTHING ELSE? ALL RIGHT.

I'LL OPEN UP FOR A PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

DAVE, ANYBODY ONLINE? NOT ONLINE.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

TACKLING THIS ON OUR OWN, UH, ALSO UNDERSTANDING THAT IT, YEAH, THERE COULD BE STUFF WE NEED TO IMPROVE ON IN THE FUTURE.

WHAT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD? UH, I'LL MAKE THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT WITH E K I, UH, BECAUSE I THINK WE NEED TO GET THIS DONE USING THE GRANT FUNDING BEFORE THE END OF THE DEADLINE.

AND I THINK IT'S APPROPRIATE NOW WITH WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON BETWEEN THE GSAS THAT WE START

[01:15:01]

AND I WOULD, UH, LIKE TO SEE MORE DATA GAP STUFF LIKE ARISS BEEN TALKING ABOUT, COME FORWARD IN FUTURE BUDGETS OR GRANT, UH, FUNDING OR SOONER THE BETTER.

BUT I MAKE THE MOTION FOR THIS TO APPROVE THIS CONTRACT.

THAT'S A LONG MOTION.

AND CAN I SECOND THAT LONG MOTION? IS THAT ENTIRE MOTION? I DON'T KNOW.

IT'S SO LONG.

YOU MIGHT NEED A THIRD IT, BUT YEAH.

TAKE YOUR SECOND.

PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

AYE AGAIN, ITEM PASSES.

UH, JUST FOR THE RECORD, UH, MOTION WAS BY DIRECTOR PEDRETTI, AND THE SECOND WAS BY DIRECTOR MARTINI.

[10. 2023 GOVERNING BOARD MEETING CALENDAR]

WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM, WHICH SHOWS OUR MEETING SCHEDULE.

UM, NUMBER 10, A LA MERCED SUB BASIN GSA JPA AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE GOVERNING BOARD TO SET THE TIME AND PLACE FOR THEIR QUARTERLY MEETINGS.

STARTING IN 2020.

THE GOVERNING BOARD ELECTED TO MEET MONTHLY AND BETWEEN THE REGULAR QUARTERLY MEETINGS FOR 2023, THE MERCED SUB BASED AND GSA GOVERNING BOARD MEETINGS HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED FOR THE SECOND THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH AT 2:00 PM THESE MEETINGS WILL BE HELD IN THE MERCED COUNTY BOARD CHAMBERS, WHICH IS LOCATED ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.

THE MEETINGS ARE ALSO ANTICIPATED TO BE OFFERED VIA ZOOM FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

THE 2023 SCHEDULE INCLUDED IN THE AGENDA PACKET AND SHOWN ON THIS SLIDE IDENTIFIES THE REGULAR QUARTERLY MEETINGS AS WELL AS THE SPECIAL MONTHLY MEETINGS FOR THE UPCOMING CALENDAR YEAR.

ADDITIONAL SPECIAL MEETINGS MAY BE CALLED AS NEEDED, AND ALL MEETINGS WILL BE NOTICED, HELD AND CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BROWN ACT AND OR AB 360 1.

LASTLY, MEETING RECORDINGS, AGENDAS AND MATERIALS ARE ALL PUBLISHED ON THE GSA WEBSITE UNDER THE GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AGENDAS AND RECORDING TAB.

ANY, UH, ANY MEETING DATES? I GUESS THAT DON'T WORK OR ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENT OR QUESTION? ALL GOOD.

SCENE NONE.

I'LL GO OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

ANY PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME? OKAY.

IS THERE ANY ONLINE? THERE'S NONE ONLINE.

WHAT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD? MAKE A MOTION.

I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE, THE REGULAR MEETING SCHEDULE.

UM, I HAD, UH, WELL, I HAD A MOTION BY, UH, DIRECTOR MARTINI.

WAS THAT A SECOND? DIRECTOR GRAYER? YES.

UH, NEXT ITEM IS, UH, 11 OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORT.

PLEASE CALL THE ROLL MR. DREYER.

AND CHAIRMAN PRAYER? AYE.

AND YOUR HONOR.

ROLL ITEM PASSES.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

[11. STRATEGIC PLANNING AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORT]

THE BASIN'S RESPONSE TO THE REDUCED PUMPING AND OTHER DEMAND REDUCTION, WE MAY BE REFINE THE AMOUNTS OF SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND TRANSITIONAL WATER AVAILABLE.

I GOT NOMINATED BY THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, UH, THIS TIME TO GIVE, UH, THIS MONTH'S REPORT.

UH, WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING ALLOCATING GROUNDWATER IN, UH, MULTIPLE YEAR BUCKETS IN ORDER TO GIVE GROWERS THE MOST FLEXIBILITY TO MANAGE THEIR FARMING OPERATIONS.

THE RECOMMENDATION WE DISCUSSED IS A FIVE.

OH YEAH.

THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THAT UP.

IS A FIVE YEAR ROLLING BUCKET, WHICH WOULD ALLOCATE THE SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND THE TRA TRANSITIONAL WATER IN AN INITIAL FIVE YEAR BUCKET.

THEN ADDING TO THE INITIAL BUCKET, THE ANNUAL SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND TRANS TRANSITIONAL WATER ALLOCATION QUANTITY, THE TRANSITIONAL WATER WOULD REDUCE EACH YEAR UNTIL THERE IS NO TRANSITIONAL WATER AVAILABLE AFTER 10 YEARS.

IN THIS SCENARIO, FIVE YEARS, WORSE OF SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND TRANSITIONAL ALLOCATION WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO GROWERS AT ONCE, AND THE GROWER WOULD BE ABLE TO USE THEIR BUCKET AS THEY CHOOSE.

HOPEFULLY, GIVEN GROWERS MORE FLEXIBILITY EACH YEAR, THE NEXT YEAR'S ALLOCATION OF SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND TRANSITIONAL WATER WOULD BE ADDED TO THE BUCKET AND THE CONSUMED AMOUNT WOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE BUCKET.

SINCE TRANSITIONAL WATER DECREASES EVERY YEAR UNTIL IT'S NO LONGER AVAILABLE, THE AMOUNTS ADDED EACH YEAR ARE REDUCING UNTIL ONLY SUSTAINABLE YIELD IS ADDED.

EACH YEAR THAT YOU CAN SEE UP ON THE, UH, THE GRAPH THERE, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT TRANSITIONAL WATER QU, UH, QUANTITIES TO RAMP DOWN PERIODS MAY VARY ACROSS THE GSA, UH, ACCORDING TO LOCAL CONDITIONS AND CHALLENGES, DEPENDING ON HOW THE BOARD SEES FIT IN THE FUTURE.

THIS ROLLING FIVE-YEAR APPROACH INTENDS TO GIVE THE MOST FLEXIBILITY AND CERTAINTY TO GROWERS TO KNOW WHAT TO ANTICIPATE IN THE ALLOCATION OVER A FIVE YEAR WINDOW.

AS THE GSA AND THE BASIN GAIN MORE INFORMATION AND DATA ABOUT SUSTAINABLE YIELD AND

[01:20:01]

AND THIS IS WHAT WE WENT OVER AT OUR LAST MEETING.

WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TACKLE, UH, ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME AND THEN BRING IT BACK TO THE BOARD, UH, SO THE AUDIENCE KNOWS, UH, THAT WAY WE CAN GET MORE BOARD INPUT BEFORE WE MOVE ON WITH, UH, NEXT SUBJECT WE'RE GONNA GO OVER, BUT WE'RE HOPING THIS, UH, THIS KIND OF BUCKET THEORY WILL GIVE THE PEOPLE, UH, FARMERS OUT THERE A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY, UH, AND CERTAINTY SO THEY HAVE AN IDEA MOVING FORWARD FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

AND THEN WE'RE LOOKING IN MORE TO WHAT, UH, ZONE ISSUES IN THE FUTURE TOO IS GONNA HAPPEN.

SO, AND IF I MISSED ANYTHING, STAFF, WOULD YOU PLEASE SUPPLEMENT? OKAY.

COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, ERIC? WELL, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT THE MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT HAS DONE RECENTLY, THEY'VE ALLOCATED, UH, 3.3 ACRE FEET OVER THREE YEARS.

SO THIS IS A LONGER TIMEFRAME THAN THE TIMEFRAME THAT RECENTLY MERCED ID ADOPTED, WHICH GIVES THE GROWERS MORE FLEXIBILITY ON WATER USE.

SO AS THERE'S DRYER YEARS AND WETTER YEARS, THIS GIVES YOU A LONGER TIMEFRAME TO AVERAGE OUT YOUR, YOUR GROUNDWATER PUMPING, CORRECT? YEAH.

THIS IS A, YOU KNOW, A AS OUR BASIN, YOU KNOW, IS ALLOWED TO REALLY PUMP LESS AND LESS WATER.

YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, UM, THERE, YOU KNOW, AS WE ALL KNOW, SOME OF THE, THE ZONES ARE GONNA BE IN, IN WORSE CONDITIONS THAN OTHERS.

AND THIS, THIS SYSTEM ALLOWS FOLKS TO, TO GET TO THEIR NORMAL, UM, WITH AS MUCH FLEXIBILITY AS I THINK MAYBE THE STATE WOULD ALLOW US TO GIVE.

I MEAN, I HOPE THEY ALLOW THIS MUCH, UH, YOU KNOW, IN, IN, IN, IN THEIR PLAN, BUT, OKAY.

ANY, ANYONE ELSE? RICK, UH, IS ANY IS NICK, UH, ANYTHING NICK? UH, NO.

UM, YEAH, SO WE'RE TALKING, IF I UNDERSTOOD IT RIGHT, A 10 YEAR WORTH OF TRANSITIONAL WATER BUCKET, THAT WHAT THE GROUP CAME UP WITH, 10 YEAR TRANSITIONAL WATER STARTING AT, UH, YEAR ONE TOTAL, THEN REDUCING 10% EACH YEAR TILL IT'S ZERO IN THE 10TH, OR 10% IN THE 10TH YEAR, ZERO IN THE 11TH YEAR.

SO RIGHT NOW, NICK, WE'RE TALKING LIKE 2025 TO 2035 FOR THE TRANSITIONAL WATER RAMP.

AND THOSE QUANTITIES HAVEN'T BEEN DEFINED, RIGHT? WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THEM IN, UH, AS INITIALS, RIGHT? YES, NICK, AT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, WE HAVE NOT TALKED ABOUT QUANTITIES YET.

WE WANTED TO TRY TO GET A WORKING IDEA OF HOW IT WOULD, HOW WE WOULD DO THIS MOVING FORWARD BEFORE WE PUT QUANTITIES UP IN FRONT OF THE BOARD.

AND, UH, YEAH, I LIKE THE APPROACH.

A, HAS THE, HAS THE CONVERSATION GONE ANY FURTHER THAN THIS? LIKE USING THE SUSTAINABILITY ZONES? I KNOW LLOYD BROUGHT IT UP, BUT USING, SOMEHOW TYING THAT INTO THIS.

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE RIGHT NOW, NICK AT WATER WHERE WE'RE AT, AT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE RIGHT NOW, NICK, IS WE WANTED TO TACKLE, GET THE BROAD VIEW WITH THIS AND HOPEFULLY GET BOARD APPROVAL, SEE WHAT THE BOARD'S INPUT WAS ON IT, AND THEN THE NEXT THING WE'RE LOOKING AT TACKLING IS, UH, LAND USE, UH, YOU KNOW, ACRES INVOLVED IN WHO'S ENTITLED TO THIS, OR NOT ENTITLED, IT'S NOT THE RIGHT WORD, BUT WHO HAS, UH, USAGE OF THIS WATER AND HOW THAT'S GONNA WORK.

AND THEN PROBABLY AFTER THAT GO INTO THE ZONES LIKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

SO, BUT WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT AND GET THE BOARD, UH, OPINION ON HOW MANY ACRES WE HAVE BEFORE WE START TALKING ABOUT ACTUAL, UH, YIELD NUMBERS.

YEP.

WELL, IT'S A, IT'S A TALL, TALL TASK TO BE SUSTAINABLE BY 2035.

RIGHT? ESSENTIALLY THAT'S WHAT'S BEING, POTENTIALLY BEING, UH, PRESENTED HERE, RIGHT.

AND ADMIRE IT.

UM, WHAT IS THE, THE FIVE YEAR ROLLING, SO THAT'S ALWAYS ROLLING RIGHT FROM, YOU KNOW, OF THE TRANSITIONAL WATER, RIGHT? THAT'LL, THAT'LL MOVE FROM YOUR 10 TO FIVE OR 10 TO SIX AND NINE TO FOUR, KINDA LIKE THAT, RIGHT? YES.

SO NICK, JUST AS A POINT OF CLARIFICATION, THE, UH, 2035 NUMBER IS IN THE G S P.

SO THAT'S, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING REALLY ARBITRARY.

THAT'S, THAT'S IN THE PLAN.

UH, I'LL OPEN UP FOR FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

[01:25:02]

ANY ONLINE? NONE ONLINE.

UH, THIS IS AN INFORMATIONAL ITEM.

YOU DON'T EXPECT A MOTION? CORRECT.

NEXT, UH, ITEM, UM, 12, WHICH IS OUR STAFF REPORT.

WE'LL MOVE TO OUR

[12. STAFF REPORT]

UH, COUPLE OF ITEMS, UH, UNDER THE STAFF REPORT.

ONE IS JUST NOTIFYING YOU THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION'S MULTI-BENEFIT LAND REPURPOSING GRANT PROGRAM IS GONNA OPEN AGAIN FOR ROUND TWO EARLY NEXT YEAR.

IF YOU RECALL, UH, THE MERCED GSA APPLIED FOR THIS GRANT EARLY IN THIS YEAR, 2022.

WE WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL, BUT THERE WERE ONLY FOUR AWARDS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE STATE FOR THAT GRANT.

FOUR AWARDS.

UM, CURRENTLY THE PROGRAM GUIDELINES ARE OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

THE ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE IS FOR THE SOLICITATION NOTICE TO BE RELEASED IN JANUARY WITH APPLICATIONS DUE ON MARCH 15TH.

15TH.

SO STAFF IS PLANNING TO WORK TO UPDATE THE APPLICATION FOR THE MERCED SUB BASIN GSA.

WE'LL REACH OUT TO OUR EXISTING PARTNERS AND POTENTIAL NEW PARTNERS TO STRENGTHEN THE APPLICATION BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE DEPARTMENT, UM, FROM OUR ROUND ONE APPLICATION.

SO THIS ITEM WILL BE BROUGHT BACK TO THE BOARD AT A LATER MEETING FOR DIRECTION TO APPLY FOR THAT GRANT IF THE BOARD CHOOSES.

UH, THE SECOND ITEM IS THE BROWN ACT AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS.

THE GOVERNOR'S EMERGENCY DECLARATION FOR COVID IS SCHEDULED TO END ON FEBRUARY 28TH, 2023.

THIS MEANS THAT VIRTUAL MEETINGS WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE TO THE G S A AND ITS COMMITTEES, UH, WILL HAVE TO MEET IN PERSON ACCORDING TO THE BROWN ACT.

SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE THE ZOOM OPTION AVAILABLE FOR THE PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE IN MEETINGS, AND THERE WILL BE LIMITED OPTIONS FOR MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY AS LONG AS THEY REQUIRE THEY COMPLY WITH CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS IN AB 24 49.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE OPTIONS UNDER AB 2 4 49 FOR MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY WILL BE SENT TO THE BOARD MEMBERS AND THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS.

THIS WILL MOSTLY IMPACT THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE BECAUSE CURRENTLY THEY MEET 100% REMOTELY AND STARTING IN MARCH, THE TAC WILL HAVE TO START MEETING IN PERSON.

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENT? YEAH, JUST ONE MORE ADDITIONAL THING FROM STAFF, AND IT'S JUST MORE OF A JUST WARM WISHES.

CERTAINLY WANT TO, UH, BE VERY MINDFUL THAT WE'RE AT THAT TIME OF YEAR WHERE WE'VE GOT A FEW WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS, AND CERTAINLY ONE OF ON BEHALF OF THE STAFF, UH, WISH YOU MR. CHAIRMAN AND THE REST OF THIS GSA BOARD AND CERTAINLY OUR, OUR ATTORNEY AND CONSULTANTS.

JUST A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND TO, UH, TO BE VERY MINDFUL.

UH, OBVIOUSLY THE TIME OF YEAR, THERE'S VERY, UH, THERE'S A GROUP OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE CERTAINLY LESS FORTUNATE THAN WE ARE, AND SO IT'S, UH, IT'S ALWAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE VERY MINDFUL OF THAT, BUT ALSO TO WISH YOU ALL VERY WELL, UH, AS WE CLOSE OUT THIS YEAR.

UH,

[13. BOARD REPORTS]

BOARD REPORTS.

ERIC, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE AT THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING TO HAVE, UM, E K I BRING BACK A MAP OF THE PROPOSED LOCATIONS.

WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING THESE GROUNDWATER MEASUREMENTS AND THE, UH, ANTICIPATED TOTAL WELL DEPTH OF THOSE WELLS THERE PLANNING ON USING.

AND STAFF DO THAT WE CAN BRING BACK AS, AS MUCH INFORMATION AS WE'LL HAVE BY JANUARY KNOWING THAT THERE'S A HOLIDAY IN THE MIDDLE.

AND, UH, WE, WE MIGHT NOT HAVE ALL THOSE TOTAL DEBTS SINCE WE DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ON THOSE WALLS.

ANYTHING, UH, ANYTHING? UH, DIRECTOR MARTINI? NOPE.