East Turlock Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Incentivized Fallowing Program Policy

The East Turlock Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETSGSA) is implementing an Incentivized Fallowing Program (IFP) Policy to support the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the agency's Groundwater Demand Reduction Plan. This voluntary program aims to rapidly transition land from irrigated to non-irrigated status to meet groundwater sustainability goals within the East Turlock Subbasin, spanning Merced and Stanislaus counties. Participants are required to enter into a standard three-year agreement, during which they must fallow irrigated land, remove all crops by June 30 of the first reporting period, maintain vegetated cover, and prevent nuisance conditions. To be eligible, an applicant's water account must be in good standing with the agency, and all groundwater use fees and operational assessments must be up to date. The selection process for the program utilizes a ranking system where submitted fields are prioritized from highest to lowest based on their average consumed groundwater use per field acre. Final funding decisions are determined by the ETSGSA Technical Advisory Committee and the Board, based on funding scenarios designed to optimize cost-benefit ratios and maximize demand reduction. Incentive payments are not fixed but are calculated and processed after the end of each reporting period following the successful validation of fallowing. These payments are applied as credits against the participant's Groundwater Use Fee invoices. If an incentive exceeds the amount due, the agency will issue a payment for the adjusted difference.