Farmers in southern Tulare County will face greater pumping scrutiny after the state placed the region on probation following a lengthy hearing in Sacramento Sept. 17.
State Water Resources Control Board members acknowledged a new groundwater plan submitted by water managers in August had made great strides in many areas. But the big sticking point was subsidence, or land sinking.
Calling the situation a “crisis,” State Water Resources Control Board members voted unanimously to put the Tule groundwater subbasin on probation based on a staff report that showed subsidence continues to plague the region, causing ongoing damage to the vital Friant-Kern Canal.
As part of its vote for probation, the Water Board also adopted a clarified path for water agencies that are complying with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to get out of probation on the so-called “good actor” clause.
Though Water Board members said the region’s problems over all are “urgent” and in need of much more aggressive actions, they also voted to exempt the Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District and Kern-Tulare Water District groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) from pumping reporting requirements and fees.
And they left the door open for two other agencies, the Lower Tule River and Pixley irrigation district GSAs, to possibly also be exempted from reporting and fees in 60 days.
Though other agencies asked for similar exemptions during Tuesday’s hearing, Water Board members held off on further exclusions until state staff can thoroughly review the region’s new plan.
At the hearing Tuesday, a panel of community members from small towns in the subbasin made compelling arguments for greater oversight through probation.
Christina Velasquez, a resident of Pixley for 24 years, said her water often comes out brown and there is very little water pressure in her home. She said she spends a lot of money buying bottled water and filters and won’t let her children or grandchildren drink the water at her home.
“We can’t even give it away now,” said Velasquez. “We still have to pay for it.”
On the other hand, farmers and farm bureau staff asked the Water Board members to hold off on a probationary designation saying it would delay progress and would continue to erode the economic driver of communities.
“Water is the currency of the San Joaquin Valley,” said Justin Morehead, farmer in Pixley, at the meeting.
Justin Morehead’s father, Jim Morehead, noted that the value of their family land has plummeted 70% because of groundwater regulation.
“The equity that we used to get through during the lean years is gone,” said Jim Morehead. “I don’t see a future for the family farm anymore.”
More fees becoming a killing blow was a common theme among farmers.
“Probation is the nuclear option,” said Sean Geivet, general manager of the Saucelito, Porterville and Terra Bella irrigation districts, which are the three main water districts within the Eastern Tule GSA.
But it became clear after the nearly 10-hour meeting which way the Water Board members were leaning.
“I’m feeling that moving onto probation is a step that we should take here,” said Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the Water Board.
“It just strikes me that we really are in a crisis situation,” said Dorene D’Adamo, vice-chair of the Water Board.
Probation is the first step toward a potential state pumping takeover if plans can’t be remedied within a year. During that time, most farmers will have to meter and register their wells at $300 each, pay $20 per acre foot pumped and begin reporting extractions by Feb. 1, 2026. Those fees are on top of what farmers are paying to water districts and groundwater agencies.
Farmers in the Tule subbasin join those in the Tulare Lake subbasin, in neighboring Kings County, which was placed on probation April 16. Fees and other requirements in Kings County have been paused, however, as a judge there issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the state from being able to implement those measures pending outcome of a lawsuit filed against the state by the Kings County Farm Bureau.
It’s unclear whether that injunction, or the outcome of the lawsuit will have any impact on state enforcement in Tule or other groundwater subbasins.
The Tule subbasin ruling was a let down to area water managers who had submitted new groundwater plans to regulators in August that were praised in a staff report for vast improvements, particularly toward protecting domestic drinking water wells.
But the plans did not go far enough on subsidence, according to the Water Board staff report.
“While the revised (groundwater plans) appear to address many deficiencies, ongoing subsidence in the basin is an urgent problem, especially for critical infrastructure, and (the plans) still appear to lack detail about how they will slow subsidence…” the report states.
The biggest indicator that water managers had not addressed excessive pumping was continued damage to the Friant-Kern Canal, the report noted.
A section of the canal that passes through the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency, which covers the eastern third of the Tule subbasin, had to be rebuilt because it had sunk so much its carrying capacity was crimped by 60%.
Even as a $326 million repair project was being completed this year, Friant Water Authority discovered the canal was continuing to sink in more sections, and at a faster rate, than had been anticipated.
Friant Water Authority sued Eastern Tule GSA in February alleging its groundwater accounting method had not slowed over pumping and that its farmers had not paid their share to fix the canal under a 2021 agreement between the agencies.
Jason Phillips, CEO of Friant Water Authority, plainly laid the blame on Eastern Tule GSA at Tuesday’s hearing and told the board he supported probation for the subbasin. Staff from Eastern Tule GSA asked the Water Board for exemption from probation. Phillips told Water Board members not to give in to the request.
“We urge you to reject eastern Tule’s request to delay the designation,” said Phillips at the meeting. “Don’t be fooled by their commitments, they have not been proven to be credible.”
The Tule subbasin is covered by eight groundwater agencies including Eastern Tule, Delano-Earlimart, Kern-Tulare, the Lower Tule River, and Pixley irrigation districts and the Tri County Water Authority and Alpaugh and Tulare County GSAs.
The Water Board is the enforcement arm of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which mandates overpumped groundwater basins bring aquifers into balance by 2040.
Four other valley groundwater subbasins will come before the board for possible probation as well. The Kaweah subbasin in Tulare County is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, the Kern subbasin will go before the board Feb. 20, 2025. The Chowchilla and Delta-Mendota subbasins will have their cases heard later in 2025.
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