- Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative.
Meeting: Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District
Date: Sept. 10, 2024
Agenda and meeting packet: CLICK HERE
The Tulare Lake Basin Water District Board of Directors unanimously voted to hold a hearing to impose a $10-per-acre levy at the next monthly meeting on Oct. 8. The proposed $1.8 million levy would provide operation funds to the district.
Assistant General Manager Chantal Ouellet said the funds from the levy would sustain the district’s budget for two years.
“There’s no money asked from any landowners at this moment,” Ouellet said. However, she believes the proposed levy could be called as early as December.
Good stewards
One board member, whose name was not announced during the meeting, discussed the possibility of calling for annual audits of the state’s Department of Water Resources in the name of transparency.
“We got to make sure they’re being good stewards,” the board member said.
SJV water conditions
The board received a brief update on water conditions in the San Joaquin Valley.
San Luis Reservoir will finish the water year, which runs from October 1 through September 30, at 83% of average and the Tulare Lake basin at 80%. Currently, the San Luis Reservoir is at 46% capacity.
Statewide news
The district’s state lobbyist Taylor Roschen provided a report of the Aug. 31 legislative session, calling it “sloppy” due to a lot of back and forth between both houses, and a lack of time to discuss each bill.
Successful bills included SB 366, that would revise and update the California Water Plan, and SB 1156, which requires groundwater sustainability agency board members and executive members to file statements of economic interest with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
The discussion also covered Gov. Gavin Newson’s declaration of the end of the two-year drought state of emergency in 19 coastal and desert counties, while maintaining it in 39 other counties.
How to attend:
The district meets at 10 a.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at its Corcoran office, 1001 Chase Ave.
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SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org
