State’s groundwater reporting portal still hit or miss as deadline looms
- Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative.
More than two dozen well owners attended the state’s first workshop to help them register their wells to begin reporting extractions by May 1 as groundwater sanctions finally get underway in Kings County.
While some landowners were able to open accounts, others found the program unworkable and questioned the fairness of impending state fees that are tied to how much water is reported through the program.
Hanford-area landowners invited to well registration workshops
The Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) is hosting two workshops for landowners in the Hanford area in order to satisfy its well registration policy, which requires landowners to register their wells with the agency.
The workshops will be held April 27 at 5:30 p.m. online; and April 28 from 2 to 6 p.m. in person at the Kings County Government Center, administrative multi-purpose room, 1400 W. Lacey in Hanford.
Information for the online event:
- https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/26502881445413?p=yXsox2HsOdYlyhzM0X
- Meeting ID: 265 028 814 454 13
- Passcode: c6MY7km9
It is recommended to bring a laptop, verification code and well information.
No registration is required.
Landowners will register their wells with Watermark, the GSA’s accounting database. They will learn to set up an account, register their parcels and register wells.
Mid-Kings’ policy requires all landowners in its boundary to register wells and report extractions – similar to state mandates.
Claudine Contente, a third generation dairy farmer, was in and out of the April 16 workshop in 30 minutes after successfully registering her account on the Groundwater Extraction Annual Reporting System (GEARS).
She said Water Resources Control Board staff were friendly and helpful. But she questioned whether bugs in the GEARS system would be worked out by the May 1 deadline.
“It’s kind of late in the game,” she said.
Contente was glad she got help registering: “I don’t want to make a big mistake. It’s scary.”
Farmers Doug and Julie Freitas had a different experience. They spent more than two hours working with Water Board staff trying to register on GEARS at the April 16 workshop, and another 14 hours on their own. All to no avail.
They later appeared online at the Water Board’s April 21 meeting to vent their frustration.
“This board expects the farmers in our community to register our wells and water. How can we do that when the website doesn’t work?” Julie Freitas said during public comments at the April 21 meeting.
They aren’t trying to skip out on their responsibilities, Doug Freitas added.
“We’re willing to register our wells. We’ve registered with our (groundwater agency), we’re willing to make these steps and commit to pay our fees,” he said.
But he questioned the fairness of the state’s extra fees of $300 per well and $20 per acre foot pumped and asked Water Board members to reconsider imposing those on farmers who are also paying fees to their groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs).
Both the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, and the neighboring Tule subbasin, which covers the southern half of Tulare County’s flatlands, were placed on probation by the Water Board in 2024 for lacking groundwater management plans that would stem rampant subsidence, among other deficiencies.
Probation comes with requirements to report extractions and pay fees. The reporting deadline for both subbasins is May 1, though fees in the Tulare Lake subbasin have been put on hold again as a judge considers whether to issue another preliminary injunction barring the state from charging fees.
The Kings County Farm Bureau sued the water board in 2024, alleging it had overstepped its authority under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act when it put the region on probation. It also won a preliminary injunction against the reporting and fee requirements until that injunction was overturned in Oct. 2025.
It recently filed a motion for another injunction barring the state from collecting $5.4 million in back fees, which will be decided June 3.
That delay doesn’t apply to well owners in the Tule subbasin who will be expected to pay fees 30 days after they’re invoiced by the state.
Landowners who pump fewer than 20 acre feet per year, are excluded from the reporting and fee requirements.
The Water Board will host three more GEARS workshops:
- April 29, 3 to 7 p.m., Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Van Dorsten Ave., Corcoran
- April 30, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Veterans Hall, 411 West D St., Lemoore
- April 30, 4 to 7 p.m., Allensworth Elementary, 3320 Young Rd., Earlimart
Landowners are encouraged to for the workshops and bring:
- 16-digit correspondence ID
- Laptop
- Well location and pumping data
- Meter data and calibration information
Spanish-language services will be available. For additional services in other languages, submit a request here, call 916-341-5254 or email languageservices@waterboards.ca.gov.
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