Laird Grazer of the Water Policy Advisory Committee (WPAC) told the commissioners that better, more current water data is essential to policymaking and presented a preliminary analysis of well records and points‑of‑diversion data.

Grazer reported that the statewide points‑of‑diversion database lists roughly 21,677 wells for the county’s area but that about 7,000 are inactive; the remaining inventory includes about 12,572 active domestic wells. He noted roughly 416 wells were completed in the county between Jan. 1, 2020 and the present — a modest increase relative to the overall stock — and urged county staff to geolocate irrigation and domestic wells to better target conservation and infrastructure planning. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” Grazer said when describing the data need.

County staff and WPAC members discussed the limits of state reporting cycles: the presenter noted the state water report is produced roughly every five years and that the 2020 data had only become publicly available in spring 2025, limiting timely policymaking. Grazer proposed the county map wells and seek staff capacity to update and analyze data on a more current basis.

Manager Schaefer and county staff clarified that water delivered at county bulk‑fill stations is recorded as part of the county’s public water system production statistics and that customers must set up accounts, allowing usage to be captured in system data. Schaefer said the county will present a reclaimed water master plan to the Board of County Commissioners in 2026 to guide use of treated effluent for non‑potable purposes (for example, commercial dust suppression and other industrial uses) and to help plan re‑use opportunities tied to the county’s water reclamation facility.

Highlighting regional coordination, Board members and utility managers urged sharing data with small systems and towns (for example, El Dorado), and noted that some districts are moving to smart metering to better track withdrawals. The meeting closed with commissioners endorsing improved measurement and exploration of options for regional coordination and reclaimed water use.