overdrafted Archives

State board to vote on reducing extraction fees for probationary basins

March 13, 2024

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

On the eve of its first subbasin probationary hearing, the state Water Resources Control Board announced it will vote on whether to reduce a controversial groundwater extraction fee. The board will vote at its March 19 meeting on whether to cut the fee from $40 to $20-per-acre-foot for well owners in a subbasin placed on…

SGMA • Uncategorized

Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny

October 6, 2023

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

Groundwater relations in the Kaweah subbasin in Tulare County have gone from bad to worse. Fingers have been pointed, ultimatums laid down and patience has run out. At its Sept. 26 meeting, the Greater Kaweah GSA board accepted a recommendation to allocate 1.87 acre feet of groundwater per acre to its farmers for the 2023-24…

Groundwater

San Joaquin Valley groundwater will need more than one epic water year to rebound in the long term

June 7, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

With all the flooding, runoff and more snowmelt still to come, everyone’s wondering: How’s the groundwater? Short answer: Better. Long answer: It’s going to take more than one good water year to reach sustainability. After decades of over pumping and two severe, multi-year droughts within five years of each other, San Joaquin Valley aquifers had…

Groundwater

Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures

December 21, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

As water managers throughout the San Joaquin Valley scramble to reign in groundwater pumping, they’re running into a serious roadblock: angry farmers. Across the valley, farmers have decried fees and other measures meant to reduce pumping, threatening not to pay, taking agencies to court and protesting groundwater rules. In some cases, it’s working. In the…

Groundwater • SGMA

New state program will pay to keep groundwater in the ground

December 16, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The state will likely soon be offering up more cash to farmers who take their crops out of production. The state Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) new LandFlex program will pay out $25 million to local agencies and ultimately, as an incentive to farmers. This is different from the Multibenefit Land Repurposing program overseen by…

SGMA

Madera farmers may be facing a steep bill under county efforts to stem the groundwater overdraft

March 5, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Madera County farmers who’ve never had to pay for water, could be facing an expensive new future under a new fee plan being drafted by the county’s groundwater sustainability agency. The new fees could add up to more than $23,000 per 100 acres, tacked on to the cost of doing business for some growers. The…

NEWS

State board to vote on reducing extraction fees for probationary basins

Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny

San Joaquin Valley groundwater will need more than one epic water year to rebound in the long term

Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures

New state program will pay to keep groundwater in the ground

Madera farmers may be facing a steep bill under county efforts to stem the groundwater overdraft

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