WATSONVILLE — In a sign of continuing turmoil at the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, its two top finance people have been put on administrative leave, officials announced Wednesday.

Whether administrative division manager Linda Contreras and accounting supervisor and grants administrator Phil Rodriguez will return is unclear.

The agency has been in a tailspin since September, when the state Supreme Court let stand an appellate court ruling that said the agency had imposed fees on groundwater pumping illegally. The ruling cost the agency $4 million, or about half its annual budget, and put it on the hook for as much as $13.5 million to reimburse ratepayers for the illegal charges.

The shake-up in the finance department comes less than a week after General Manager Bruce Laclergue announced his resignation for health and family reasons, and as the agency grapples with developing a plan to either cut costs, raise revenues or both in a bid to survive and carry out its mission of protecting Pajaro Valley groundwater.

"We're in a tough situation, and I hope everybody has patience as these things unfold," said Dennis Osmer, a member of the agency's board of directors and one of a three-member ad hoc board committee charged with taking over Laclergue's responsibilities.

Osmer announced the suspension of Contreras and Rodriguez at a finance committee meeting Wednesday, and said the ad hoc committee, which also includes board chairman Michael Dobler and director Dave Kegebein, made the decision. But, citing personnel confidentiality, he declined to say why, whether they would return or how quickly the matter would be resolved.

He and other board members have clashed with Contreras and Rodriguez over the budget process and reporting at past meetings, and at Wednesday's committee meeting Osmer called for an overhaul of the agency's financial reporting to provide clarity and facilitate monitoring of cash flow.

"We hope to achieve a new level of transparency to get people to understand where we are," said Osmer, who is spearheading the agency's effort to convince the community a new fee will be needed to replace the lost funding.

An independent financial audit of the fiscal year that ended June 30, conducted in the fall and presented to the full board Wednesday night, concluded the agency's financial situation has been accurately portrayed.

"I'm not sure why," he said of the suspension. "I hope to learn soon, and I'm concerned about the success of the agency's mission."

Osmer said agency finances will be overseen in the interim by remaining staff and consultants, with the help of Watsonville Finance Director Marc Pimental, who sat in on Wednesday's committee meeting.

Darlene Din, a land-use consultant who has been monitoring the agency since its inception 24 years ago, said the agency appears to have hit rock bottom, but, given the long-standing controversy surrounding its finances and water projects, starting from scratch might not be a bad idea.

"Now the agency can rebuild," she said.