The impacts from California’s financial problems are starting to be revealed as some water agencies are implementing serious cutbacks.
During its August board meeting, staff at the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board announced they are trimming the operations budget by 5% because of state budget cuts.
Meanwhile, San Joaquin Valley groundwater managers are wary, expecting far less grant funding for projects.
California is in the throes of a $68 billion budget deficit largely because of declining revenue from 2022-2023. While the state will pull from reserves for spending, that is not a sustainable solution and spending cuts are necessary.
The Central Valley Regional Board is one of the first public water agencies to reveal the impact of state cuts in detail.
The 5% operations reduction at the regional board will have a “profound impact” on projects in the coming fiscal year, said Patrick Pulupa, executive officer of the Central Valley Regional Board at the board’s August meeting.
“We’re still recovering,” said Pulupa during the meeting. “The cuts happened in a few areas that are gonna be tough to absorb.”
Cuts hit every organization in the water board system but the cuts happened unevenly, said Pulupa. The Central Valley Regional Board was hit a bit harder than most others, he added.
Cutting vacancies
Most of the cuts at the Central Valley Regional Board are aimed at eliminating vacant jobs. The cuts are part of Governor Newsom’s initiative to eliminate 10,000 vacant state jobs to help address the deficit.
The Central Valley Regional Board is losing 13 positions from the following programs:
- Mines, one position
- Waste discharge to land, two positions
- Planning, two positions
- Confined animal facilities, one position
- Forest activities, one position
- Site cleanup, two positions
- Cannabis, four positions
“It could be worse,” said Pulupa at the board meeting. There won’t be any layoffs or pay cuts, he added.
Still growing
Some programs are still gaining positions, however. This includes one new environmental program manager for the (Central Valley) CV-SALTS nitrate control program, four new enforcement positions with the cannabis program, one position with the storm water program and two positions with the water quality certifications program.
Staff at the Central Valley Regional Board and the state Water Board declined to discuss any of the budget cuts with SJV Water.
However, a spokesperson from the Water Board wrote in an email that the SAFER drinking water program and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act are not impacted by the cuts.
A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Water Resources wrote in an email that it is too early in the process to discuss details of the cuts.
“DWR is working with the Department of Finance to make budget reduction decisions that put us in the best position to continue to meet the needs of 27 million Californians through the State Water Project, focus on science-driven decision-making to protect California’s environment and endangered fish species, further critical groundwater recharge efforts in the Central Valley, and ensure public safety during extreme weather conditions like flooding and drought,” wrote the spokesperson.
Valley impact
In the valley, local water managers are already planning for less state funding.
Groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs,) the locally run organizations responsible for bringing overpumped aquifers into balance under state law, rely heavily on grant funding for projects.
The North Kings GSA, for example, which covers part of central Fresno County, relies on state funding for about a third of its budget, federal funding for another third and local funding for another third, wrote Kassy Chaughan, executive director of the North Kings GSA.
Local funding, in the form of fees, is tough because that requires approval from taxpayers, Chaughan wrote in an email.
If state grants dry up, that will mean greater competition for federal grants. Or agencies will have to get loans or bond for money to build projects such as more groundwater recharge, which has been a focus for most valley agencies.
“The State budget woes are definitely impacting the ability to deliver on projects that have been identified to reach sustainability goals,” she wrote.
Other managers share the same concerns.
“Any funds we anticipated for grants and programs are either gone, or in very sparse amounts leading to inability to meet demands,” wrote Aaron Fukuda, general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, in an email.
Even though water and climate projects saw a 21% reduction, that still leaves $12.9 billion in funding for fiscal year 2025, according to PPIC.
Moving forward amidst cutbacks will be a challenge for water agencies.
“We run a very lean operation here,” said Pulupa at the August board meeting. “We are probably gonna do less with the less that we have available.”
SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley.
