EXHIBIT 17-A
SEASIDE BASIN ADJUDICATION
TENTATIVE DECISION
IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE
10 Days after
the Tentative Decision was filed
If no party within ten days of the filing of this Tentative Decision specifies controverted issues or makes proposals not covered in the Tentative Decision this Decision shall become the Statement of Decision, and Plaintiff shall prepare a judgment thereon. (see page 59 of Tentative Decision)
15 Days after
Entry of Judgment
First Watermaster Meeting. The Watermaster shall hold regular meetings at places and times to be specified in the Watermaster Rules and Regulations. Its first meeting must be held within 15 days of the rendering of final judgment in this case. (page 36, par. f.)
Thirty (30)
Days After Entry of Judgment
Except for the initial Budget Assessment which shall be due 30 days after entry of Judgment, payment of the Budget Assessment, subject to any adjustment by the Court as provided in Section III.N., shall be made by each Producer prior to the beginning of the Administrative Year to which the Budge Assessment relates, or within 40 days after the mailing of the tentative budget, whichever is later. (page 40 & 41, par. iv.)
Each party who has not heretofore made such a designation, within thirty (30) days after the final Judgment has been served upon that Party, shall file with the Court, with proof of service of a copy upon the Watermaster, a written designation of the Person to whom, and the address at which, all future notices, determinations, requests, demands, objections, reports and other papers and processes to be served upon that Party or delivered to that Party are to be so served or delivered. (page 53, par. 2.)
Sixty (60) Days
After Entry of Judgment
Monitoring and Management Plan. Within sixty (60) days after the entry of Judgment, Watermaster will prepare a comprehensive monitoring and management plan for the Seaside Basin (“Monitoring and Management Plan”). (page 37, par. i.)
Ninety (90) Days
After Entry of Judgment
The Watermaster shall adopt initial Watermaster Rules and Regulations within ninety (90) days after entry of Judgment herein. (page 43, par. xii.)
One Hundred Twenty
(120) Days (Approximately) After Entry of Judgment
The Rules and Regulations and any amendments thereto, shall be effective on such date after the mailing thereof to the Parties as is specified by the Watermaster, but not sooner than thirty (30) days after such mailing. (page 43, par. xii)
One (1) Year)
After Entry of Judgment
Develop improved estimates of recharge; develop program for collecting data; develop groundwater model; develop action plans.
Two (2) years
after Entry of Judgment
Term of Office. Each new Watermaster board shall assume office at the first regular meeting in January of every second year. Each Watermaster board member shall serve for two-year term, subject to the retained jurisdiction of the Court. (page 35, par. b.)
Three (3) years after Entry of Judgment :
Operating Yield will be maintained for three (3) years after entry of Judgement or until a determination is made by the Watermaster, concurred in by this Court, that continued pumping at this established Operating Yield will cause material injury to the Seaside Basin or to the Sub areas, or will cause Material Injury to a Producer due to unreasonable pump lifts. (page 15, par. 20)
First Three
Administrative Years:
Carryover Credits. Except for those certain Parties electing to proceed under the Alternative Production Allocation, as set forth in Section III.B.3., for the first three administrative years each Producer who, during a particular administrative year, does not extract from the Basin a total quantity equal to such Producer’s Standard Production Allocation for the particular Administrative Year may establish Carryover Credits, up to the total amount of that Producer’s Storage Allocation; provided, however, in no circumstance may the sum of Producer’s Storage Credits and Carryover Credits exceed that Producer’s available Storage Allocation. (page 26, par. F)
Carryover. Unused (not Extracted) Stored Water Credits and Carryover Credits shall be carried over from year to year for the first three Administrative Years. Thereafter carryover water withdrawal is subject to a percentage decrease consistent with percentage decreases in the Operating Yield, according to the terms of this Tentative Decision. (page 32, par. 5)
The Operating Yield for the Coastal Sub area is 4,611 acre feet and 989 acre feet for the Laguna Seca Sub area. The Operating Yield established here will be maintained for three (3) years from and after entry of Judgement, or until a determination is made by the Watermaster, concurred in by this Court, that continued pumping at this established Operating Yield will cause irreparable injury to the Seaside Basin or to the Sub areas or will cause Material Injury to a Producer due to unreasonable pump lifts. (page 37 & 38, par. ii)
Fourth to Sixth
Administrative Year:
Commencing with the fourth administrative year, and continuing through the sixth administrative year the operating yield for both Sub areas will be decreased by ten percent (10%) unless: (a) The Watermaster has secured and is adding an equivalent amount of Non-Native water to the Basin on an annual basis; or (b) The Watermaster has secured reclaimed water in an equivalent amount and has contacted with one or more of the producers to utilize said water in lieu of their production allocation, with the producer agreeing to forego their right to claim a storage credit for such forbearance; or (c) Any combination of a and b which results in the decrease in production of Native Water required by this decision; or (d) The coastal water level of the aquifer is determined to have risen above sea level. (page 20 par. 2.)
Commencing with the administrative year and triennially thereafter the operating yield shall decrease by ten percent (10%) for the subsequent three years , unless the alternatives set forth for the first three years have been achieved, or have occurred, until production reaches the Perennial Safe Yield as calculated by the Watermaster. (page 21 last par.)
Recurring Dates
Except for the initial Budget Assessment which shall be due 30 days after entry of the judgment, payment of the Budget Assessment, subject to any adjustment by the Court as provided in Section III.N., shall be made by each Producer prior to the beginning of the Administrative Year to which the Budge Assessment relates, or within 40 days after the mailing of the tentative budget, whichever is later. (page 40 & 41, par. iv.)
Annual Report. The Watermaster will prepare, file with the Court and mail to each of the Parties on or before the 15th day of February, an annual report for the preceding Administrative Year, the scope of which shall include but not be limited to the following: Groundwater Extractions; Groundwater Storage; Amount of Artificial Replenishment, if any , performed by Watermaster; Leases or sales of Production Allocation; Use of imported, reclaimed, or desalinated Water as a source of Water for Storage or as a Water supply for lands overlying the Seaside Basin; Violations of the final Judgment and any corrective actions taken; Watermaster administration costs; Replenishment Assessments; All components of the Watermaster budget; and Recommendations. (page 42, par. x)
The Watermaster shall mail a copy of said tentative budget to each of the Producers hereto at least 60 days before the beginning of each Administrative Year. (page 42, par. xi)
If any Producer hereto has any objection to said tentative budget, it shall present the same in writing to the Watermaster within 15 days after the date of mailing of said tentative budget by the Watermaster. If no objections are received within said period, the tentative budget shall become the final budget. If objections are received, the Watermaster shall, within 10 days thereafter, consider such objections, prepare a final budget, and mail a copy thereof to each Producer, together with a statement of the amount assessed to each Producer (Administrative Assessment). Any Producer may apply to the Court within 15 days after the mailing of such final budget for a revision thereof based on specific objections thereto in the manner provided in Section III.N. (page 43, par. xi.)
Time for Motion. A motion to review any Watermaster action or decision shall be filed within thirty (30) days after such Watermaster action or decision, except that motions to review Budget Assessments and Replenishment Assessments hereunder shall be filed within fifteen (15) days of mailing of notice of the Assessment. (page 50, par. 3.)
Each Watermaster board member shall serve for two-year term, subject to the retained jurisdiction of the Court. (page 35, par. b.)
Note: Judge Randall stated in his Tentative Decision that some of the above-noted time deadlines were to be triggered by the January 12, 2006 filing of his said Tentative Decision, and others were from entry of Judgment. In his February 7, 2006 Minute Order response to a request (among others submitted by various Parties to the lawsuit) the attorney for Granite Rock filed with the court to clarify certain time deadlines in the Tentative Decision, Judge Randall decided that all applicable time deadlines triggered by the Tentative Decision, instead will be from the date the Judgment is entered.
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