Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Proposed Fee

On November 14, 2024, the SVBGSA Board of Directors (Board) received a presentation on and accepted the Groundwater Sustainability Fee 5-Yr Evaluation Memorandum by Hansford Economic Consulting.

On February 13, 2025, the Board implemented the following changes in the Groundwater Sustainability (Fee) calculation:

  1. Calculate the Fee based on cropped acreage as reported by DWR’s annual (most recent) crop mapping.
  2. Calculate the Tier 2 Fee amounts by applying a subbasin Fee to the portion of the parcel in the respective subbasin and summing the Fees.
  3. Incorporate SWRCB urban pumping data for the Langley Area when determining cost allocation between Agricultural and Domestic Users.

On April 10, 2025, the Board approved the FY 2026 budget and reviewed and provided input on the FY 2026 proposed fees.

On May 8, 2025, the Board held a public hearing to set the Groundwater Sustainability Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. After deliberation and discussion, it was decided to continue the public hearing to the June 12, 2025 Board meeting.

On June 12, 2025, the Board will hold the continued public hearing to hear public testimony and consider setting the Fees for FY 2026.

Fee Map Notes

The map displays preliminary Groundwater Sustainability Fees (GS Fees) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. This map and calculated fees by parcel will be updated upon completion of the tax roll in August and will be republished on the SVBGSA website in September.

A parcel within the Salinas Valley Basin GSA may not be imposed a fee in FY 2026 for any of the following reasons:

  • The parcel is exempt. Federally owned parcels, and parcels held in trust by the federal government for tribes are exempt under SGMA.
  • The parcel is served by a domestic well and is not growing a crop for commercial sale or irrigating large areas of landscape.
  • The parcel is undergoing change with the County Assessor (for example, it is being split or merged).
  • Data is currently missing but will be available by August when the map is updated.

The best available data from the State Water Resources Control Board is used to show public water system boundaries; this may not provide an accurate depiction of assessor parcels served by public water systems.

180/400, Eastside, Forebay, Langley, Monterey, and Upper Valley 

Tier 1 Fee Tier 2 Fee Total Fees
Per Cropped Acre $13.83 $0.00 $13.83
Per Connection $5.32 $0.00 $5.32

The methodology for calculating the Groundwater Sustainability Fee (Fee) was first established in 2019 and most recently adjusted in Spring of 2025.

The Fee calculation comprises the following steps:

Step 1: Determine the amount of revenue needed to be raised in the next fiscal year through the regulatory fee – the “cost basis”. Allocate the cost basis between Agricultural and All Other beneficiaries of sustainable groundwater management. Agricultural beneficiaries are allocated 90% of the cost basis. All Other beneficiaries are allocated 10% of the cost basis.

Step 2: Determine the number of Irrigated Acres/Cropped Acres and Service Connections in the SVBGSA subbasins to be charged the fee in the next fiscal year. Note: The SVBGSA Board of Directors decided to change the basis for fee calculation from Irrigated Acres to Cropped Acres in FY 2026. For FY 2026 the most current dataset is from water year (WY) 2023. 

Step 3: Divide the Agricultural beneficiaries’ cost basis by the number of Irrigated Acres/Cropped Acres to calculate the annual Fee per acre. Divide the “All Other” beneficiaries’ cost basis by the number of Service Connections to calculate the annual fee per connection.

Cropped Acres: Acres of real property identified as either Cropped (land use codes C, D, F, G, P, R, T, UL, V, or YP), Unclassified (land use code X – did not grow a crop in the reported water year), or Idle (land use code I – cropped within the prior 3 years or idle for 4 or more consecutive years), by the California Department of Water Resources using the most recently released publicly available crop mapping dataset.

Irrigated Acres: “All real property classified as Monterey County Assessor land use codes 4C, 4D, 4F, 4G, 4K, and 4N, whether the acre belonging to the Assessor Parcel Number upon which the regulatory fee is imposed is or is not currently irrigated.” County GIS data is used to determine the number of Irrigated Acres per APN, not County Assessor records.

Connection: “A connection between the customer’s piping or constructed conveyance and the water system’s meter, service pipe, or constructed conveyance.” A property can have more than one service connection. Connections are counted for Public Water Systems (15 or more connections or regularly serves 25 or more people daily for at least 60 days out of the year) and Small Water Systems (2-14 connections).

The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) Groundwater Sustainability Fee (Fee) was first adopted in March 2019 based on a fee study report developed by Hansford Economic Consulting (HEC) after seeking input from numerous public meetings and workshops. In 2023, the SVBGSA Board of Directors commissioned a new fee study, exploring a tiered Fee structure. The process comprised a broad stakeholder engagement and concluded with a final report that was accepted by the Board on June 29, 2023.

SVBGSA is the local Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) in the Salinas Valley Basin responsible for sustainably managing groundwater resources. SVBGSA has the authority to charge fees, conduct investigations, register wells, require reporting, and take other actions to sustainably manage six of the hydrographic subbasins in the Salinas Valley: (1) Monterey, (2) 180-400-Foot, (3) Eastside, (4) Forebay, (5) Langley, and (6) Upper Valley.

These types of activities all constitute the Sustainable Groundwater Management Program of the SVBGSA. By actively planning for and implementing sustainable groundwater management plans in the subbasins, SVBGSA helps maintain local management of groundwater in the Salinas Valley.

The Groundwater Sustainability Fee is paid by groundwater users within the SVBGSA jurisdictional boundaries. For imposing the Fee purpose, a groundwater user is defined as an owner of agricultural land or a water user served by a publicly or privately owned water system. De minimis extractors, tribal lands, and federally owned properties are exempt from the Fee.

Each year, the Board reviews the Fee to determine if the revenue collected from the Fee is sufficient to cover expenses, consistent with the California Constitution and state law. The Board may increase or decrease the Fee as necessary or appropriate. The cost basis of the Fee is determined during the budget-setting process and a public hearing is held for any proposed changes to the Fee.

Pursuant to the Tiered Regulatory Fee Policy (amended June 29, 2023), the annual budget is developed commensurate with the annual work plan to achieve SGMA compliance, to conduct investigations and studies, to monitor data, to register and monitor wells and to obtain legal, financial, accounting, technical, engineering, and other services to carry out the regulatory activities of the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA).

Tier 1 funded tasks are common to or are required by all subbasins. Tier 2 funded tasks pertain to or are necessitated by only one or more, but not all subbasins.

The majority of the Fees (approximately 95%) are collected with property taxes: the County collects the Fees on the tax roll together with property taxes and disburses the fee revenue to SVBGSA.

The Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency fees will not include the cost of data collection by the WRA covered by the GMP fee. 

Fiscal Year 2025 Fee

On April 11, 2024, the SVBGSA Board of Directors approved the 2025 budget and the FY 2025 approach. On May 9, 2024, the SVBGSA Board of Directors held a public hearing to hear public testimony and consider adopting resolutions setting the Groundwater Sustainability Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The Board of Directors adopted the resolutions setting FY 2025 fees authorized under California Water Code 10730 to fund the regulatory activities of the agency.

Subbasin Tier 1 Fee Tier 2 Fee Total Fees
EASTSIDE
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $1.03 $10.14
Per Connection $4.26 $0.27 $4.53
LANGLEY
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $4.43 $13.54
Per Connection $4.26 $6.64 $10.90
FOREBAY
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $0.54 $9.65
Per Connection $4.26 $0.23 $4.49
MONTEREY
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $20.53 $29.64
Per Connection $4.26 $9.41 $13.67
180/400 FOOT
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $2.62 $11.73
Per Connection $4.26 $1.21 $5.47
UPPER VALLEY
Per Irrigated Acre $9.11 $0.55 $9.65
Per Connection $4.16 $0.33 $4.49

Fiscal Year 2024 Fee

Subbasin Tier 1 Fee Tier 2 Fee Total Fees
EASTSIDE
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $2.96 $11.24
Per Connection $3.90 $0.64 $4.54
LANGLEY
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $12.86 $21.14
Per Connection $3.90 $10.86 $14.76
FOREBAY
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $3.40 $11.68
Per Connection $3.90 $1.32 $5.22
MONTEREY
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $34.96 $43.24
Per Connection $3.90 $17.26 $21.16
180/400 FOOT
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $4.48 $12.76
Per Connection $3.90 $1.32 $5.22
UPPER VALLEY
Per Irrigated Acre $8.28 $3.32 $11.60
Per Connection $3.90 $1.82 $5.72

Fiscal Year 2022 Fee