The first steps toward possible state control of groundwater pumping in Kings County were derailed under a ruling issued July 15 that said the Water Resources Control Board had overstepped its bounds by requiring meters on wells.
The temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction were issued by Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Ciuffini in a case brought by the Kings County Farm Bureau.
Requiring meters and reporting extractions were the first steps mandated by the Water Board in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, as part of its enforcement of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
The requirements were made after the subbasin was put into probationary status by the Water Board April 16 for failing to come up with a coordinated groundwater management plan.
It’s unclear what effect Judge Ciuffini’s ruling could have on five other San Joaquin Valley subbasins set to come before the Water Board for probation hearings in the coming months.
The Water Board disagreed with the ruling but said it would continue its work in the Tulare Lake subbasin while considering its legal options, according to an email sent by a spokesperson.
“I am encouraged by the judge’s comments on the likelihood of the case’s success,” said attorney Valerie Kincaid, who is representing the farm bureau and several of its members. “That was the part that was the strongest for me.”
She said an Aug. 20 preliminary injunction hearing will decide whether the Tulare Lake probationary designation will be set aside while the merits of the case are debated.
Meanwhile, the restraining order means pumpers who extract more than 500 acre-feet of groundwater per year get a temporary reprieve on installing meters, reporting their groundwater use, submitting those reports to the state by December 1, and paying associated fees of registering wells at $300 each and $20 per acre-foot of extracted water.
The timing couldn’t have been more ironic, as July 15 was the day that pumpers were to begin tracking their groundwater use.
“It’s kind of beautiful as you write history that this happened today, purely by chance,” said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau.
Ciuffini originally issued a tentative ruling in favor of the Water Board, but after listening to oral arguments, reversed her decision.
Ference said declarations provided by four landowners gave compelling evidence that the well metering and reporting requirements would cause irreparable harm to growers’ operations.
One grower, Zack Bickner, stated that with 23 wells, he could not meet the state’s deadline to begin recording his extractions by July 15 because it would take 4 to 6 weeks to pull all his meters and calibrate them, causing harm to his crops during peak irrigation. He also did not receive his notice to comply until June 26, though the letter was dated May 24.
Judge Ciuffini also concurred that landowners did not receive proper notice of metering and calibration requirements, or how to report using the state’s new GEARS platform (Groundwater Extraction And Reporting System).
“The plaintiffs have made a reasonable request to delay the July 15 deadline and the board either cannot or will not act,” Ciuffini said. “They have shown that this is a true emergency and they will suffer irreparable harm if the measuring and reporting requirements start today.
There is no doubt in my mind they will suffer financial losses.”
In her oral arguments, Kincaid belabored the fact that landowners are at a loss about the state water board’s administrative process during probation. For example, the board’s website provides only a generic email address for landowners to ask questions or seek relief from regulations. Furthermore, instructions are not clear.
“There is not a contact person, petition, timeline or process,” Kincaid said. “Landowners honestly don’t know what to do. The process does not exist, and it is tremendously prejudicial. “It is unfair and has created confusion and consternation for the public.”
Tulare Lake is the first of six groundwater basins in the San Joaquin Valley to undergo state scrutiny for twice failing to submit adequate management plans per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which mandates that aquifers must be brought into balance by 2040.
Ference said the farm bureau has already invested more than $100,000 in its legal battle against the state. Its “SGMA Defense Fund” has received more than $25,000 in donations.
“This is the first small step in a much bigger process,” he said. “As exciting as it is, we’ve got a long way to go.”
Lisa McEwen, SJV Water 
