FOX CANYON GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY A STAn OF CAliFORNIA WAfER AGENCY

Transcription

1 FOX CANYON GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY A STAn OF CAliFORNIA WAfER AGENCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Lynn E. Maulhardt, Chair, Director, United Water Conservation District David Borchard, Farmer, Agricultural Representative Charlotte Craven, Vice Chair, Councilperson, City of Camarillo John Zaragoza, Supervisor, County of Ventura Dr. Michael Kelley, Director, Zone Mutual Water Company EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jeff Pratt, P.E. MINUTES Minutes of the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency's (FCGMA) regular Board meeting held Wednesday, in the Board of Supervisors' Hearing Room at the Ventura County Government Center, Hall of Administration, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura California. A. Call to Order Chair Lynn Maulhardt called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. B. Pledge of Allegiance Director Charlotte Craven led the Pledge of Allegiance. C. Roll Call Chair Lynn Maulhardt Director Charlotte Craven Director John Zaragoza Director Michael Kelley Director David Borchard Alternates Sam Mcintyre, David Schwa bauer (arrived at 1:40 p.m.) and Neal Andrews (arrived at 2:00p.m.) were in the audience. Agency Staff Jeff Pratt, Executive Officer Alberto Boada, Agency Counsel Gerhardt Hubner, WPD, Deputy Director Rick Viergutz, WPD, Groundwater Manager Kathleen Riedel, Groundwater Specialist Jessica Rivera, Temporary Clerk of the Board D. Agenda Review No changes were made to the Agenda. 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA (805) or FAX: (805) or Websites: or Item 1 - Page 1 of 5 F:\gma\GMA Shared\2012\Agenda 10-12\ltem 1- Minutes docx

2 Page 2 of 5 E. Public Comments Mr. Tom Smith, City of Camarillo, announced he would be retiring in October. He expressed his gratitude for the GMA and the relationships that were built during his 18 years with the City of Camarillo. Mr. Smith further announced that Mr. Rick Dierksen, who has been with the City of Camarillo for 34 years, would assume his position. Chair Maulhardt thanked Mr. Smith for being a great supporter of the GMA and the community, and expressed his appreciation for all of the efforts Mr. Smith had put in throughout the years. Director Craven thanked Mr. Smith as well and commented that Mr. Dierksen would do a fine job. Ms. Dale Zurawski, Farm Bureau and Ventura County Agricultural Irrigated Lands Group (VCAILG), mentioned two upcoming fall workshops to be held in October. She noted both workshops would deal with excess nitrogen in groundwater and surface water, and that there would be speakers from Monterey County and UC Davis as well. Ms. Zurawski stated the workshop scheduled for October 10, 2012 would discuss managing nitrogen and row crops; and the workshop scheduled for October 11, 2012 would discuss irrigation and nutrient management, with a free lunch being provided as well. Ms. Zurawski concluded her announcements by stating flyers were available in the lobby. F. Board Member Comments Chair Maulhardt commented on the condition of Mr. Mike Solomon's wife, United Water Conservation District (UWCD), who had recently been injured in a car accident. CONSENT ITEMS: 1. Approval of Minutes Director Craven made the motion of approval of the consent items. Director Zaragoza seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: 2. Las Posas Basin Update Mr. Robert Eranio, Las Posas Users Group (LPUG), gave an update on the most recent LPUG meeting. He stated Mr. Jeff Pratt, Executive Officer, had attended and provided excellent feedback and participation during the meeting. Mr. Eranio announced the red-lined version of the Las Posas Basin Specific Management Plan (Plan) had been released and comments had been received. He noted LPUG would begin to incorporate the comments into the Plan and that LPUG was awaiting comments from the FCGMA. Mr. Eranio further mentioned LPUG had received comments which could be deemed controversial; therefore, such comments were set aside to allow for discussion and/or feedback in an open forum prior to moving forward with adding them to the Plan. Chair Maulhardt asked if there were any questions or comments from the Board or the public, and no questions or comments were made. F:\gma\GMA Shared\2012\Agenda 10-12\ltem 1- Minutes docx Item 1 - Page 2 of 5

3 Page 3 of 5 3. Fiscal Year Year-End Actual Budget Performance Report Mr. Gerhardt Hubner, WPD, Deputy Director, gave a presentation overview of the Fiscal Year (FY) year-end budget performance. He reviewed key revenues and expenditures, and reported some key expenditures had not yet been processed as invoices had not been received. Mr. Hubner further reported that the FY year-end fund balance exceeded the projected FY year-end fund balance by $5, He concluded his presentation by recommending the Board receive and file the FY year-end budget performance report. Director Borchard commented surcharge revenues would ultimately phase out; therefore, he recommended placing an item on the agenda to allow an additional $500,000 to be sequestered into the Groundwater Extraction Management Enforcement Surcharge (GEMES) fund. Director Craven agreed, and Chair Maulhardt directed Agency staff to place an item for this topic on a future Board meeting agenda. Chair Maulhardt asked if there were any questions or comments from the public, and no questions or comments were made. Director Craven made the motion of approval to receive and file the FY year-end budget performance report. Director Zaragoza 4. Fiscal Year Year-End Work Plan Update Mr. Rick Viergutz, WPD, Groundwater Manager, presented the FY year-end work plan update. He reviewed highlights of the administrative, records and technical services, as well as additional work tasks, which included: (1) extraordinary enforcement; (2) Las Posas sub-basin management plan development; and (3) the Groundwater Supply Enhancement Assistance Program (GSEAP). He concluded his presentation by recommending the Board receive and file the FY year-end work plan update. Chair Maulhardt asked if there were any questions or comments from the Board or the public, and no questions or comments were made. Director Craven made the motion of approval to receive and file the report. Director Borchard 5. Flowmeter Calibration Program Update Ms. Kathleen Riedel, WPD, Groundwater Specialist, gave a presentation update on the flowmeter calibration program. She provided background, noting that the Agency was currently in Phase II of the second round of the Agency-wide effort to verify flowmeter accuracy. Ms. Riedel reviewed comparisons of reporting between Phase I and Phase II of the program, as well as challenges realized and modifications required for the FCGMA online database. She concluded her presentation noting the Agency was making positive progress towards meter compliance, and recommended the Board receive and file the flowmeter calibration program update. Chair Maulhardt noted, based on the comparisons reported in the presentation, the Agency is seeing more responses received by the due date. Ms. Riedel agreed, mentioning that outreach was provided to the Operators reminding them of the deadline. F:\gma\GMA Shared\2012\Agenda 10-12\ltem 1 -Minutes docx Item 1 -Page 3 of 5

4 Page 4 of 5 Chair Maulhardt inquired as to how much staff time was spent contacting the Operators, and Ms. Riedel responded significant staff time was expended on the follow-up of phone calls, s and updates of contact information. Director Kelley asked if the calls made were based on a pre-selection of the Operators, and Ms. Riedel responded the calls were made based on those Operators who had not yet responded. Director Borchard commended Agency staff on the efforts taken. Director Zaragoza agreed, noting that this item had been reviewed during the FCGMA Operations Committee meeting and the compliance rate was improving. Mr. Robert Eranio, Crestview Mutual Water Company (CMWC), expressed his appreciation to staff and stated that he was pleased with the progress of the program. Ms. Riedel commented that some Operators had expressed their appreciation for the flowmeter calibration program, as they had discovered their meters were off by 100 to 200%, resulting in overpayment of their extractions. 6. Irrigation Allowance Index Update Mr. Rick Viergutz, WPD, Groundwater Manager, gave a presentation update on the Irrigation Allowance Index (IAI) program. He reviewed the schedule, public outreach, modifications to the FCGMA online database and weather station information. He concluded his presentation by recommending the Board receive and file the report. Director Borchard noted in the presentation that it was reported if the IAI was greater than 1.4, the surcharge would then be in effect for all water; however, he recalled the adopted resolution had stated anything in excess of the 1.4 value would place the Operator out of efficiency and into their historical allocation. He continued, stating if the Operator were then to exceed their historical allocation, they would then begin to incur surcharge penalties. Mr. Viergutz confirmed, noting there was additional information in the Ordinance code. Mr. Viergutz discussed the recent workshop coordinated by the Farm Bureau on September 11, 2012 and the feedback received. He mentioned the concerns over Section 4.6 and Section 5.8 of the Ordinance code, noting they may need to be revised. Director Borchard made an inquiry regarding a data logger mentioned in the staff report, and Mr. Viergutz responded the data logger needed to be switched out as the additional rain gauge information would be too much for the current data logger to receive. Mr. Steve Nash, Oxnard resident, asked if the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) videos would be available for public viewing. Chair Maulhardt replied they would be, however, they were not yet available. Mr. David Schwabauer, Leavens Ranch, expressed his gratitude towards Agency staff for obtaining the Moorpark site for the new weather station. F:\gma\GMA Shared\2012\Agenda 10-12\ltem 1 -Minutes docx Item 1 - Page 4 of 5

5 Page 5 of 5 Chair Maulhardt mentioned he was pleased with the Farm Bureau and GMA for holding the recent IAI workshop. He commented it was beneficial to have Dr. Styles attend the workshops and further suggested additional workshops would be needed as the Agency moved closer to the implementation of the IAI program. Director Borchard inquired if context sensitive help was a part of the ongoing FCGMA online updates. Mr. Viergutz responded that the IT Services Department was working on the earlier Board approved enhancements and they would need to look further into developing the context sensitive help. EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT: 7. Administrative Reports Chair Maulhardt spoke regarding the recent FCGMA Fiscal, Operations and Executive Committee meetings held, noting the process seemed to be helpful to the Agency and Board meetings. He encouraged Agency staff to continue using the Committees to discuss items the Agency had questions with, noting the process assisted with allowing the Board meetings to run more efficiently. 8. Recess into Closed Session Chair Maulhardt recessed into Closed session at 2:35 p.m. Mr. Alberto Boada, Agency Counsel, stated there would be no actions to report following the Closed session. 9. Adjourn Regular Board Meeting Chair Maulhardt reconvened into Open session at 3:20p.m. and announced there were no actions to report. He adjourned the regular meeting at 3:20 p.m. F:\gma\GMA Shared\2012\Agenda \ltem 1 - Minutes docx Item 1 - Page 5 of 5