Sustainable Groundwater Management

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The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (FCGMA) manages and protects both confined and unconfined aquifers within all or portions of four groundwater basins underlying the southern portion of Ventura County. The FCGMA is an independent special district, separate from the County of Ventura or any city government. It was created by the California Legislature in 1982 to oversee Ventura County's vital groundwater resources. The boundary covers 183 square miles, and all lands lying above the deep Fox Canyon aquifer account for more than half of the water needs for over 700,000 residents in the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, and Moorpark, plus the unincorporated communities of Saticoy, El Rio, Somis, Moorpark Home Acres, Nyeland Acres, Point Mugu and Montalvo.

Our offices are located in the Water Resources Division Ventura County Government Center Administration Building. For maps and directions to the FCGMA office, click here.

DWR Approves Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Las Posas Valley Basin

January 13, 2022 - The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has approved the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plan, covering the Las Posas Valley Basin.

 

DWR Approves Groundwater Sustainability Plans for Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Basins

November 22, 2021—The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has approved the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plans, covering Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Basins

 

Online Payments 

Please note that online payments for semi-annual extraction statements will be unavailable after October 9, 2021.

 

FCGMA Office Hours Based on Current COVID Public Health Orders 

The County of Ventura will close its buildings to the public effective Wednesday, January 5, for a three-week period, as a precautionary measure to slow the spread of COVID-19. Services will continue to be available online at www.fcgma.org and by appointment at 805-654-2014. The health conditions will be monitored, and a reopening date will be announced after the three-week period.  

 

Ordinance to Establish a New Pumping Allocation System for the Las Posas Valley Basin                             

 The Agency Board of Directors adopted an ordinance to establish a new interim groundwater extraction allocation system for the Las Posas Valley Basin on December 14, 2020. The ordinance replaced the extraction allocations established under the Agency Ordinance Code and Emergency Ordinance E and became effective October 1, 2021. The ordinance will be interim and in effect until such time as the court completes adjudication of the Basin.

 

 More informatio on the LPV Allocation Ordinance is available here.

 

Notice of Extraction Fee Increase

At the October 28, 2020 Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Board meeting, the Board of Directors adopted Resolution 2020-05 imposing a fee of $20.00 per acre-foot (AF) on groundwater extractions to augment a reserve fund used to pay the costs and expenses of legal actions and proceedings related to implementation of the Agency’s groundwater sustainability program.

This additional $20.00 per AF groundwater extraction charge is imposed on all operators, other than operators extracting 2 AF or less per year for domestic use, for a period of four years, effective January 1, 2021.  

Collection of this fee will cease on October 1, 2024, absent action by the Board to extend or advance that termination date. In addition, the Agency will conduct annual reviews to consider continued need for the fee.

This new fee raises Agency extraction fees from the current total of $20 per AF to a total of $40 per AF for extractions beginning January 1, 2021; the fee for domestic operators extracting 2 AF per year or less remains at $6 per AF.

The Resolution, rationale and analysis for the new fee, and Board discussion is available here.

 

Notice of Surcharge Rate Increase

At the December 02, 2020 Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Board meeting, the Board of Directors adopted Resolution 2020-07 increasing the Agency's tierd surchage rates, effiective January 1, 2021.

The new tiered surcharge rates are as follows:

Tier I:     Zero to 25.000 AF = $1,549 per AF

Tier II:   25.001 AF to 99.999 AF = $1,799 per AF

Tier III:   100 AF or more = $2,049 per AF

  

OPV Allocation Variance Review Committee  

The Allocation Variance Review Committee provides recommendations to the Board on requests for new and additional allocation above that which has been previously extracted. Granting additional allocation would affect the allocations of the other extractors in the basin. For that reason, the Board appointed an OPV Variance Review Committee to evaluate these types of variance requests and provide recommendations for the Board’s consideration.

 

DWR SGMA Data Viewer

 The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) maintains a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Data Viewer which stakeholders may find useful. It is a GIS system viewer that displays groundwater levels in wells, land subsidence, basin boundaries, and other useful information. DWR has a video tutotial on YouTube.

New Public Notice

 

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