Planning the formation of the new water district has already taken over 18 months involving specification of its functions, legal research, landowner outreach, and coordination with existing government entities and river and water-related interest groups. Additional technical, legal, and organizing efforts will be required that are likely to cost $100,000 before completed. The County has approved a grant of $50,000 to the RRPOA to defray the costs of completing a Feasibility Study and Plan of Service (compliant with LAFCO requirements and resolving key questions about services provided, budget, and funding sources.

A preliminary operating budget for the proposed district needed to meet its basic functional objectives is estimated to be in the range of $500,000 annually. The future board of directors would have sole authority to make all service, budget, and funding measure decisions. However, the Feasibility Study must identify, using sound assumptions and data, the services provided, how they will be provided and by whom, and the sources of funding to pay for these services over time.

The sources of funding for district operations and related capital investments have not been determined. The Principal Act provides for a wide range of funding sources including special taxes, special assessments, water rates (e.g., potential Eel River water sales), service charges and fees, contractual services, grants, and bonds. At this point it is assumed that a special benefit assessment will be adopted concurrent with the district formation or just thereafter through an action of the new board (requiring landowner approval). On a simple allocation of cost by the acres of agricultural land in the proposed district boundary, the initial proposed assessment per irrigated agricultural acre is $20 per acre/year, though it is likely that the assessment will vary given parcel circumstances, ‘irrigated’, ‘non-irrigated’, ‘commercial use’, ‘residential use’, reflecting the benefits that accrue to these uses.