New SLO County program to help farmers pump less water from Paso Robles basin. Here’s how
San Luis Obispo County is developing a program that will encourage farmers to pump less water from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to approve a contract with the Los Angeles-based consultant Land IQ to design the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Multibenefit Irrigated Land Repurposing Program, also known as the MILR Program.
Through the program, a staff member will support irrigators who want to pivot to farming practices that use less water, according to county groundwater sustainability director Blaine Reely.
The program will offer technical and potentially even financial assistance to farmers who volunteer to participate, he said.
“Really, that puts power into the hands of the growers,” Reely told The Tribune on Friday. “They get to make their decisions about what to do to voluntarily reduce groundwater pumping.”
The study must be completed by April 30, 2025, to meet grant requirements, and the county will launch the program soon after that, Reely said.
“We are looking at incentives, not regulatory schemes,” Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said at the meeting. “This is the kind of policy that we should be promoting as a county.”
Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong, however, voted against the contract.
“This item to me is the beginning of paper water schemes, the kind of schemes that have done environmental damage to the state of California,” Arnold said.
Land IQ will collaborate with irrigators, the county and the four other Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to design the program, Reely said.
The county will pay for the $298,045 study with leftover funding from a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act grant, he said.
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County to create program to reduce water use in Paso basin
The Paso Robles Groundwater Basin is considered “critically overdrafted,” which means that continuing the existing water management practices would have negative environmental, economic or social impacts on the basin and its users, according to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
On average, people pump 14,000 acre-feet of water more than is returned to the basin each year, Reely said.
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act empowers Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to limit the amount of water that irrigators can pump from the basin. As a result, numerous California basins, like the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin, placed pumping restrictions on farmers.
The five Groundwater Sustainability Agencies governing the Paso basin, however, wanted to incentive farmers to reduce their water use instead.
“Instead of taking the ‘stick’ approach, which is the mandated groundwater allocations and pumping reduction approach, we’ve elected to take sort of the ‘carrot’ approach,” Reely said. “Let’s create programs that provide support to the irrigators to voluntarily reduce groundwater pumping to bring us into sustainability.”
The MILR Program will offer technical assistance to irrigators who want to change their farming operation to reduce their groundwater use.
“It will provide an opportunity for an owner or operator of an irrigated agricultural enterprise in the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin to basically rethink, you know, how am I currently operating my farm?” Reely said.
This could look like changing the property’s irrigation system so it is more efficient, changing farming practices, or converting irrigated farmland to dry land farming, open space or a project like a solar farm, he said.
Meanwhile, land beside Salinas River tributaries could be converted to projects that recharge the groundwater basin.
“When we do get a 2023 wet winter, and we get all that floodwater running off and running through those tributaries — right now we have nothing in place to slow that water down, capture it, get it into a place where it could sit long enough to recharge and replenish the groundwater basin,” Reely said.
Those corridors could be converted to recharge features that divert water back into the basin, he said.
If the MILR Program fails to balance water levels in the basin, the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies will likely place pumping restrictions on groundwater users, Reely said.
Fees for groundwater use
Right now, farmers don’t pay for the water they extract from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, Reely said.
However, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act empowers Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to charge fees for water use.
The county commissioned a rate study to determine appropriate groundwater extraction fees for the basin, Reely said. The county will present potential rates to the public during the next month or two, he said.
As soon as 2025, farmers could be charged for groundwater use, he said.
Reely said he expects irrigators to use water more efficiently if they have to pay for it.
“If I’m getting a bill every year for my irrigated agriculture, I’m going to be motivated to really look at what I’m doing and see if there’s a way to make modifications to my farming,” he said.
He hopes the MILR Program will support those farmers seeking ways to reduce their water use — and their water bill.
“This program is a really great opportunity for growers to develop strategies to voluntarily reduce their groundwater pumping,” he said.
