*Note: the original version of this post said the billing date started August 15. This date has been revised to August 21 to accommodate updates to the Water Dashboard.
The East Kaweah GSA Board of Directors announced at the July 24 board meeting that Allocation Year 2022 bills will be sent in August. Stakeholders can expect their bills in the mail by August 21 when the billing period begins. The board also approved extending stakeholders’ pay period from 30 days to 60 days, making the payment deadline October 20. The agency previously made improvements to the Water Dashboard allowing stakeholders to direct their water use to different allocation “buckets”, which is reflected on their upcoming bills.
Since evapotranspiration data does not differentiate between surface water, rainfall, or groundwater, the added feature allows landowners to make that distinction, potentially saving growers money.
There is still time to adjust order of use.
This extended 60-day pay period allows time for growers to shift their order of use within the Dashboard before being issued a final bill. Any changes made within the 60-day period will auto-generate a new End of Year Summary to reflect changes made to growers’ order of use. However, these changes should be made at the earliest convenience as the Dashboard takes approximately 48 hours to regenerate End of Year Summaries. Accounts will be locked for billing on October 20, at which time growers can no longer make adjustments. The East Kaweah GSA is confident that stakeholders will benefit from both the 60-day billing period, and its additional Dashboard revisions during the billing process.
East Kaweah GSA encourages landowners to watch the collection of Dashboard tutorial videos to understand how to digitally view their End of Year Summary, change allocation years, and manage groundwater transfers and surface water accounting. Additional training videos on the Allocation Year 2022 billing and the use of the order of use, or “Credit Manager” feature, will be available soon.
Stakeholders should also visit ekgsa.org/allocation for up-to-date information on allocations information and resources. Please visit this site often, and new information will be posted as it is available.
If landowners have questions before or during the 60-day period, contact Scott Maskell at the East Kaweah GSA office by calling 559-697-6095 or emailing groundwater@ekgsa.org.
Backgrounder
Allocation Year 2022 is the period beginning October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. According to an Emergency Groundwater Allocation Policy, known as the Emergency Ordinance, was adopted by the East Kaweah GSA Board in late 2021. Under the policy, groundwater use during the Allocation Year 2022 period is subject to fees of $500 per acre foot (AF) for use over 1.65 AF/acre.
Learn more: https://youtu.be/5VBc9M3HVA0
View the policy here.