
The Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (UVBGSA) Board kicked off the year on January 9, 2025, with leadership changes, a $1.36 million grant approval, and a shift to City of Ukiah administration. Key moves included electing Madeline Cline as Chair, securing state funding for groundwater studies, and raising concerns about balancing control among member agencies.
With a new year it was time to elect the Board Chair. Since the formation of the UVBGSA, the Chair has been a member of the County Board of Supervisors. Director Chris Watt nominated Adam Gaska to be Chair, based on Gaska’s extensive work on the UVBGSA fee study. The Board chose Madeline Cline as Chair over Adam Gaska, with Directors Douglas Crane, Cline and Theresa McNerlin voting for Cline, and Watt and Gaska voting for Gaska. Cline thanked Gaska, Watt, and the rest of the Board, and said, “It’s appropriate, especially as we transition to the City of Ukiah as the administrator, that someone from the County should have a leadership role and oversight.” Crane the City of Ukiah’s Board representative, currently serves as Vice Chair, and he was elected to continue in that position.
The Board next discussed and voted on a direct billing threshold. UVBGSA fees are billed several ways. Well owners have the fees added to their property tax. Water agencies, such as the Ukiah Valley Water Authority, are billed and pass this along to their customers on the water bills. There are a few entities, such as non-profits and religious agencies, that are exempt from property taxes, so the UVBGSA bills them directly. The administrative cost to send out direct bills for small amounts is more than the amount that would be collected. The Board voted to pass the direct billing threshold. The UVBGSA will not send out direct bills for fees under $20. There are very few customers that fall into under $20 direct bill category, and the total amount in question is less than $500.
The board then discussed the grant agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. From the board package handout:
On September 26, 2024 the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency was awarded $1,359,500 as part of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Cannabis Restoration Grant Program to complete the Upper Russian River Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem and Interconnected Surface Water Study (GDE-ISW).
The Board voted to enter into the grant agreement, then discussed and voted to approve a FY 2024/2025 budget adjustment to incorporate the grant funds into the budget.
The Board also voted to approve the City of Ukiah Administration Services Contract. When getting the state mandated UVBGSA up and running, West Yost was hired as the administrator of the agency. Adam Gaska crunched the numbers last year, and a Staffing Ad Hoc Committee was formed. The Board previously voted to transition from West Yost to the City of Ukiah. Blake Adams, Chief Resilience Officer with the City of Ukiah will be the General Manager of the UVBGSA, in place of West Yost’s Harry Starkey. Chair Crane thanked Harry Starkey and Indigo Bannister of West Yost for services provided to the UVBGSA.
The UVBGSA Joint Powers Agreement needs to be amended to show a new administrating agency, and the Board discussed the draft changes prepared by legal counsel. McNerlin expressed concerns with language in the revised JPA about a possible conflict of interest. Her concern was having the City be the administrator and fee collector, while also setting rates, and that the smaller agencies in the JPA could lose control to the City. There were some formatting issues with the revised JPA that needed clarification as well. The Board voted to approve the amendment, subject to corrections being made.
The Board also discussed, but did not act on, another potential amendment to the JPA to remove the Upper Russian River Water Authority as a member, as the URRWA is expected to disband. Regarding replacing URRWA’s Board seat, Director McNerlin said, “I would ask the Board to prevent the City from having two seats, plus being treasurer.”
The Board approved an amended contract with Hansford Economic Consulting. Hansford performed the fee study for the UVBGSA. The previous contract expired on December 31, 2024. The amended contract will allow an additional $24,000 payment to Hanford during FY 2024/2025 to continue to calculate and implement the fee study.
Audrey Bardsley from Larry Walker Associates updated the Board on the results from monitoring the basin’s condition in Fall 2024 and next steps for the Water Year 2024 Annual Report. The UVBGSA is required to submit an annual report to the state that includes progress in achieving sustainability of the basin. LWA collects data from the monitoring wells in the basin and tracks water use and other metrics. This data will be presented in a draft report prior to the UVBGSA Technical Advisory Group meeting scheduled for March 5. The report will be revised based on discussion at the TAC meeting, and a final report is anticipated by April 1.
Overall, the basin is in good shape, except for some pronounced seasonal lows in the Lake Mendocino and Redwood Valley area. This was an above average year for rainfall. Mendocino County is not in drought condition. One well near Lake Mendocino was very low. Director Crane pointed out that the threshold is arbitrarily set by regulation. The Ukiah Valley basin is 600 feet above sea level, and subsidence is not an issue, as it is in the Central Valley. Water users have traditionally been reliant on riparian water, not groundwater. Directors Crane and McNerlin both expressed hope that perhaps the report could provide evidence to move this basin out of the medium priority category.
Ukiah Valley Water Authority’s Sean White added that the reason one of the wells was low was because a new well had been drilled 20 feet away from the monitoring well. Zoom commenter Laurel Marcus pointed out that you cannot assume that all ag water demand is from groundwater pumping. There is also uncertainty about changes to the groundwater levels that may be caused by the seasonal diversion to replace the existing Potter Valley Project.
Dominic Gutierrez from the Department of Water Resources announced that grants are available through the Unrepresented Communities, California Tribes, and Small Farmer Technical Assistance Program. All three papers on the Interconnected Surface and Groundwater Use have been published by DWR. Gutierrez addressed Director McNerlin’s earlier comment about hoping to recharacterize the Ukiah Valley Basin out of medium priority status, “As far as I knows there is no plan to recharacterize the basins.” There was a brief discussion about how to remove fallowed cropland land from the fee database. Farmers may submit fee appeals.
Laura Garza Diaz from UC Cooperative Extension asked for the UVBGSA’s support for preparation of a study on weather, water and the impact of drought. The Board listened to her comments but took no action.