Page 17 - Beaumont Basin Watermaster
P. 17
Section 2
Watermaster Activities
reports into a single report. The revised Task Order No. 5 was approved for the amount of
$72,940.00.
Status Report of the Groundwater Model Update and Redetermination of Safe Yield and
Discussion Regarding Current and Projected Land Use Conditions in the Beaumont Area
[Memorandum 13-29]. Mr. Harder provided a brief presentation on additional groundwater
modeling issues.
2.2.4 Redetermination of Safe Yield
Under the Judgment (2003) the Safe Yield of the Beaumont Basin was established at 8,650 ac-
ft/yr. to be distributed among the Overlying Producers. The Judgment indicates that the Safe
Yield of the basin needs to be re-evaluated every 10 years.
At the February 2013 Watermaster meeting, the Watermaster Committee authorized a study to
develop a hydrologic model of the groundwater basin to be used as a tool in the re-evaluation of
the safe yield of the basin. The study, to be completed in CY 2014, will determine the natural
safe yield of the basin and the maximum amount of groundwater that Overlying Producers can
extract from the basin over the ensuing 10-year period.
2.3 Storage Applications and Agreements
The first applications to use the Basin for storage purposes were approved in FY 2005-06 when
Watermaster approved applications by Banning, BCVWD, SMWC, and YVWD to store up to
135,000 ac-ft of water in the Basin. The City of Beaumont’s application to store water was
approved by Watermaster in FY 2007-08 bringing the total storage allocation to 157,000 ac-ft. In
FY 2009-10, Watermaster approved additional applications by Banning, BCVWD, Beaumont,
and YVWD to increase the total storage allowed to 260,000 ac-ft. It is our understanding that
the Watermaster Committee has not yet amended the respective Storage Agreements to reflect
the current storage limits.
An application for a storage agreement was received by the Watermaster from the San
Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA) in mid 2010 and brought for discussion at the summer
of 2012. The application was rejected because it was determined to be incomplete.
An application for a storage agreement was also received from the Morongo Band of Mission
Indians at the December 2012 meeting. Watermaster deemed the application incomplete and
requested further information from the applicant to address questions posed by members of the
Watermaster Committee. The application was subsequently approved at the June 5, 2013
meeting allowing the Morongo Band of Mission Indians to store between 2,000 and 2,500 ac-
ft/yr of imported water in the basin. No maximum storage limit was set at this time.
As of December 31, 2013, the total storage allowed stands at 260,000 ac-ft; storage limits by
participant are as follows:
City of Banning 80,000 ac-ft
City of Beaumont 30,000 ac-ft
Beaumont Basin Watermaster 2014 Annual Report – DRAFT – August 2014 2-5
