Public input needed on the  Tule River and Deer Creek watersheds

The public’s input is being sought on ideas for long-term resilience of two Tulare County waterways at a meeting July 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. via Zoom. 

The Tulare Basin Watershed Partnership is kicking off “Sequoias to the Sloughs (S2S): A Watershed Assessment and Stewardship Initiative” thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program. The meeting is the inaugural event of implementing the grant.

The goal is to begin developing a unified vision for connecting the people, agencies, and organizations along the Tule River and Deer Creek watersheds, which begin high in the southern Sierra Nevada and wind their way to the San Joaquin Valley floor.

Organizers say the initiative has the potential to enhance the long-term resilience of the Tule subbasin by taking a comprehensive view of the region and encouraging collaboration among those who represent water, agriculture, local communities and habitat areas. 

“A lot of people don’t like that approach because it’s more complex but we can’t manage for a single benefit or purpose,” said Steve Haze, TBWP executive director. “We want to make certain that we take everything that’s already being worked on and see how we can add value to all those efforts.”

The July 7 meeting will be facilitated by Ag Innovations, the same company that is spearheading the Tule subbasin’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program (MLRP). 

Haze said that choice was intentional, as the facilitators are already familiar with the region and the socio-economic challenges it faces as it complies with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which requires that aquifers reach balance by 2040. 

The Tule subbasin is critically overdrafted and was placed on probation in 2024 by the state Water Resources Control Board. Subsidence, declining ground water levels, water quality and protection of domestic wells were overriding factors for the decision. 

An estimated 70,000 acres of farmland will need to come out of production in the Tule subbasin to reach SGMA’s goals.

“We really want to hear from the landowners, the farmers and ranchers, those who are dealing with the regulations, floods and fires,” Haze said. “They are the key stewards of the land. Even if someone doesn’t see it that way, they own it and need to take care of it.”

Registration is available at this link. 

The partnership works throughout the Tulare Basin, which is bounded by the San Joaquin River in the north to the Tehachapi range, and from Coast Range on the west to the Sierra Nevada to the east. There are 16 rivers and creeks in the entire watershed, with the partnership focused on the health and resilience of the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers.