Kings County groundwater agencies closer to coordination as last entity signs on for region-wide efforts

• Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative. 

The fifth of five groundwater agencies in Kings County officially committed to a region-wide planning effort that water managers hope will fend off the potential of state regulators mandating how much farmers can pump.

Over the summer four of the five GSAs in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, agreed to work on a single groundwater management plan and hired two engineering firms to get the job done. 

The Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) was the final GSA to agree.

At its August 7 meeting, Southwest agreed to join the region-wide effort, rather than writing its own plan. The board agreed unanimously and without comment.

Southwest will pay its portion of the costs – $106,340 and $113,000, respectively –  for Geosyntec Consultants, an engineering firm that works with four of the GSAs, and Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers to complete the single groundwater plan. 

The expectation is to submit the plan to the state Water Resources Control Board by March 2027.

Water managers are hopeful the Water Board will approve the new, coordinated plan and lift the region’s “probationary” status designation.

The board placed the Tulare Lake subbasin on probation in April 2024 when it failed to present a coordinated pumping plan that would stem subsidence and protect domestic drinking wells, among other requirements.

Probation comes with multiple state fees and groundwater pumping reporting requirements, which have already begun.

Probationary fees, including $300 each to register wells and $20 per acre foot pumped, are tied up in legal actions after the Kings County Farm Bureau sued the Water Board following the probationary designation. 

The Farm Bureau and the state are due in court for a merits hearing Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m.

Southwest also approved a contract to hire Stacie Ann Silva as the subbasin’s liaison with the Water Board. Her $10,000-per-month fee will be split between the five GSAs based on acreage.

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