GUSTINE — The Gustine City Council on March 17 approved a revised and restated Memorandum of Agreement among the Delta‑Mendota Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, updating the city’s role in regional groundwater management as part of a basin‑wide governance transition.

The item was approved on the council’s consent calendar.

Gustine is one of several Groundwater Sustainability Agencies within the Delta‑Mendota Subbasin, a critically overdrafted groundwater basin regulated under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. In 2024, the agencies adopted a single Groundwater Sustainability Plan to coordinate compliance across the basin.

The original 2024 agreement relied on the San Luis & Delta‑Mendota Water Authority to provide administrative and fiscal support. But with the Water Authority consolidating its mission and stepping away from those services by March 2026, the GSAs formed a new Joint Powers Authority — the Delta‑Mendota Subbasin GSAs Joint Powers Authority — to assume those responsibilities. Gustine approved participation in the JPA last October.

The updated agreement removes the Water Authority as a party, replaces the former coordination committee with the new JPA board, and updates the list of signatory agencies following recent consolidations. It also clarifies language regarding the development and maintenance of a basin‑wide monitoring network, though officials emphasized that the revision does not change any agency’s obligations.

City staff noted that the changes are administrative and do not alter Gustine’s responsibilities under SGMA or the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Costs associated with participation in the JPA will continue to be addressed through annual budget approvals and cost‑sharing arrangements among member agencies.

The Delta‑Mendota JPA has asked all GSAs to adopt the revised agreement by March 31.