East Turlock Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency Phase Two (2) Rules and Regulations

The East Turlock Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency is implementing updated rules and regulations under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to align with the Revised Turlock Groundwater Sustainability Plan within its boundaries. These Phase Two Rules introduce key modifications to groundwater accounting practices, including provisions for the carryover of unused allocations, calculation of consumed surface water using assigned irrigation efficiency factors such as 88% for LEPA sprinklers and 70% for surge furrow irrigation, and the establishment of recharge credits tied to registered facilities with verified diversion records submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board. The regulations also set standards for accounting for fallowed land, requiring that cumulative evapotranspiration minus effective precipitation not exceed 0.5 acre-feet per acre, or alternatively, July evapotranspiration not surpass 0.1 acre-feet per acre, with aerial imagery serving as a final verification method if needed. Water users including dairy, poultry, food processing, domestic, and industrial facilities must comply with mandatory metering or estimation methods such as pump performance tests, run-time meters, or water balance calculations, and submit annual reporting data between November 1 and October 31 through the Groundwater Accounting Platform. Compliance is enforced through a tiered fee structure based on groundwater use categories, with civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day for violations, and incentives are structured around eligibility thresholds for programs like the Mitigation Land Reserve and Incentive Funding Programs, not through competitive procurement. All administrative functions, including appeals and data verification, are conducted by the ETSGSA General Manager and Technical Staff using the platform, with ultimate authority resting with the ETSGSA Board of Directors. No federal procurement mechanisms, contract types, payment offices, or acquisition regulations apply; the entire framework is a regulatory compliance system governed by California water law, CEQA exemptions, and local administrative authority without reliance on FAR, SAM.gov, or federal contracting structures.