Yuba Water Agency Board Names Chair and Vice-Chair, Welcomes New Director by Yuba Water Agency Jan 8, 2025 Member Submitted News During its first meeting of the new year on Jan. 7, the Yuba Water Agency Board of Directors selected Jon Messick as chair and Wayne Bishop as vice-chairman for the 2025 calendar year. The board also welcomed Renick House as its newest board member. “I appreciate the confidence from my fellow board members in serving another term as chair and look forward to continuing the important work we do to serve the people of Yuba County,” Messick said. This is Messick’s second consecutive year as chairman. He has served on the board since 2022 through his role as a Yuba County supervisor representing District 5, which includes the foothills and some of the northeastern valley communities including Hallwood, District 10 and Beale Air Force Base. Bishop is serving his first term as vice-chair. He has represented South Yuba County on the board since 2022 and has been a member of the Administration, Budget and Personnel Committee for the past two years. House joins the board for a four-year term following his election last year as a Yuba County Supervisor representing District 2, which includes the City of Marysville and a portion of West Linda. Yuba Water’s board is made up of all five members of Yuba County’s Board of Supervisors and two elected officials representing North and South Yuba County. The board works with the agency’s general manager to set policy and make decisions that support Yuba Water’s core missions of flood risk reduction, water supply reliability, fish habitat protection and enhancement, hydroelectric power generation and recreation at New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The board is guided by a five-year strategic plan. Yuba Water approves five-year update to Groundwater Sustainability Plan Yuba Water also approved a five-year update to its Groundwater Sustainability Plan, a requirement under the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. Yuba Water manages two groundwater subbasins in the region, together as a unit, in partnership with Cordua Irrigation District and the City of Marysville. The North Yuba Subbasin is north of the Yuba River, while the South Yuba Subbasin is south of the Yuba River. “Updates to the plan include incorporating new data and science that reflect the current hydrogeologic conditions in our groundwater basin and expanding our groundwater quality monitoring,” explained Charles Johnck, Yuba Water’s water resources program coordinator. “We have a long history of proactive groundwater management, going back to the foundation of this agency, the Yuba Accord and our groundwater substitution program. This update is just the next step to continue that sustainable framework.” While Yuba County’s groundwater has been sustainably managed for decades, the Yuba subbasins were two of 127 regions identified in 2014 by the California Department of Water Resources as being medium- or high-priority basins subject to SGMA based on elements such as population and groundwater use. Approximately 80 percent of Yuba County residents rely on groundwater as their primary water source. Learn more about Yuba Water and its work to power a brighter future for Yuba County at yubawater.org. ###
