UPCOMING: Well registration workshops for Hanford-area landowners 

In order to boost well registration, the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) will hold two workshops June 2 and 16.

The June 2 workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to noon. The June 16 workshop will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Both will be at the Kings County Planning Department offices. Landowners are encouraged to call the GSA to register.

An event may be canceled if no reservations are made.

The GSA has registered wells on about 50% of parcels in its boundaries, according to engineering consultant Amer Hussain. 

Landowners should bring a laptop or tablet and the verification code they should have received in a letter from Mid-Kings.

This registration process is separate from one required by the state Water Resources Control Board as a result of the Tulare Lake subbasin being placed on probation in 2024 for lacking an adequate groundwater plan.

As part of probation, growers must meter their wells and register them with the state and pay a fee of $300 per well.

Growers were also required to begin reporting how much groundwater they have been pumping to the state. Those reports were due May 1. The state will invoice growers $20 per acre foot pumped at some point in the future.

The fees are intended to repay the state for the cost of overseeing the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County.