State staff give thumbs down to “good guy” exemptions for Tulare County groundwater agencies

A host of groundwater agencies in southern Tulare County were disappointed Thursday after Water Resources Control Board staff recommended none of them receive a so-called “good guy” exemption from onerous reporting and fee sanctions for lacking an adequate groundwater plan.

Eight groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) in the Tule subbasin, which covers southern Tulare County’s flatlands, had applied for an exemption after the Water Board placed the subbasin on probation in fall 2024.

A Water Board staff report released Thursday, however, recommends none of the eight be granted an exemption. The issue will come before the Water Board at its April 21 meeting.

Subsidence, again, was the main problem with staff noting: “The Tule Subbasin is located within the largest and most significant region of subsidence in the state.”

The Tule subbasin is also where subsidence caused by excessive pumping damaged the critical Friant-Kern Canal for a 33-mile section. It has cost $300 million, so far, to repair.

Yet the land is still sinking, according to the Water Board staff report. And staff doesn’t believe management techniques laid out in new groundwater plans are enough to reverse that trend.

“…current conditions suggest that groundwater pumping is not being managed to meet GSAs’ subsidence goals,” the report states.

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires local agencies bring aquifers into sustainability by 2040 specifically to curb negative effects of overpumping, such as subsidence. If they can’t come up with a cohesive plan to manage groundwater, the Water Board places the region on probation, which subjects farmers to greater scrutiny, reporting requirements and extra fees.

SGMA does allow for individual GSAs to be exempted from all that if they can show they are sustainable. Colloquially, it’s known as “the good guy clause.”

The Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District GSA, in the Tule subbasin, was granted such an exemption .

The Lower Tule River, Pixley, Porterville, Saucelito, Terra Bella and Vandalia irrigation district GSAs along with the Tri-County Water Authority, Tea Pot Dome Water District GSAs all sought similar exemptions.

If the Water Board agrees with the staff recommendation, farmers in those GSAs will have to meter and register their wells at $300 each and begin reporting extractions and paying $20 per acre foot pumped starting May 1.

GSA managers could not be reached Thursday afternoon for comment.