Fox Canyon approves 1,000‑acre‑foot pilot to rest wells, uses ~$868,000 from reserve to cover half cost

On June 24, 2026 the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency board approved BOP Project 2, a one‑year, 1,000‑acre‑foot imported‑water in‑lieu pilot intended to rest wells in the pumping depression of central Los Posas Valley.

Staff presented the project as one of five priority measures in the Basin Optimization Plan required by court judgment and said the pilot is intended to test basin response before pursuing larger volumes. “Rather than beginning the project at that full volume level of 3,140, it would be far more pragmatic to start at a lower volume… 1,000 acre feet, which was our recommended scenario,” the executive officer said during the presentation.

The Policy Advisory Committee had recommended a 500‑acre‑foot scenario because of cost concerns, but staff and the fiscal committee concluded 500 acre‑feet would likely be too small to produce actionable monitoring results. The board approved starting at 1,000 acre‑feet and authorizing the agency to use the Water Supply Sustainability Reserve to pay roughly half of the project cost; staff estimated the agency’s share at approximately $868,000, subject to final reconciliation with participating purveyors.

Board members pressed staff on several points before the vote, including whether the agency has adequate monitoring to detect basin response and how the agency’s legal judgment—directing efforts to maintain an operating yield near 40,000 acre‑feet per year—constrains options. Staff said recent pumping has been closer to 32,000–33,000 acre‑feet annually and described the pilot as a measured step to gather evidence for any larger effort.

Public commenters supported using available surface water for in‑lieu deliveries. Ian Pritchard of Cuyahoga Municipal Water District told the board, “We should put water underground when there’s water to put underground so that it’s there when there’s not,” and provided historical program outcomes showing prior in‑lieu deliveries correlated with groundwater level recoveries.

The motion to approve the 1,000‑acre‑foot pilot and to use reserve funds to cover approximately half the cost was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote. The board asked staff to report back to advisory committees on monitoring results and program outcomes.

The action is procedural and exploratory: it funds a limited pilot to assess whether resting wells at the recommended scale measurably changes groundwater levels, and it uses a one‑time reserve allocation rather than a recoverable loan.