PASO AUTHORITY PROPOSES FEE ON AG/COMMERCIAL PUMPERS TO PROTECT GROUNDWATER SUPPLIES, MAINTAIN LOCAL CONTROL, AVOID STATE INTERVENTION

Paso Robles Subbasin, CA — The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority (PRAGA) is proposing a groundwater management charge to fund implementation of its Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) and meet requirements of the State’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Affected groundwater pumpers have been formally noticed of the proposed management charge and provided the opportunity to protest its enactment.

Notices have been mailed to agricultural irrigators, as well as commercial and public water system pumpers identified on 1,315 parcels of land overlying the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. Rural domestic well owners pumping less than 2 acre-feet per year from the Basin ( “de minimis extractors”under SGMA) are exempted from the management charge and therefore have not received notices.

Written protests of the proposed charge can be filed before or at a public hearing on August 1, 2025. If a majority of noticed parcels protest, the management charge cannot be enacted. If less than a majority of parcels protest, the PRAGA Board may enact the charge at the conclusion of the August 1st hearing.

There has been confusion and misinformation about who will be charged and who can file a protest. Since de minimis users would not be subject to the management charge, those parcels are not counted in the protest process.

To be clear: the proposed charge only applies to agricultural, commercial, and public water system pumpers. PRAGA’s approach is consistent with State law and ensures that small domestic pumpers are properly exempted, while those who use more groundwater pay proportionally for the services that benefit them. As more specifically described in the draft Cost of Service Study, the services to be funded include State-mandated monitoring and reporting, GSP program administration, regulatory programs and groundwater demand reduction projects and management actions.

“Implementing a basin-wide funding mechanism is critical to the success of the basin and maintaining local control as we implement the GSP to achieve sustainability by the regulatory 2040 deadline,” said PRAGA Chair Matt Turrentine. “If the proposed charge does not pass, the State could determine our local management efforts are inadequate and take control of groundwater management in the basin.” The consequences of a State control of local groundwater management could include requirements to install meters and pay groundwater extraction fees to the State.

To learn more about the proposed management charge, including the draft Cost of Service Study upon which it was based, please visit the PRAGA website at https://www.pasoroblesaga.org, or attend one of the County-led open houses on July 9th at 5 p.m. at Cuesta College in Paso Robles, July 10th at 5 P.M. at the Creston Community Center in Creston, or at the virtual workshop on July 15, 2025 starting at 6:30 P.M. (visit the County SGMA website for more information: https://www.pasobasin.org).