Valley farm bureau hopes to send “strong message” to the state with hefty donation to sister farm bureau
- Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative.
The Tulare County Farm Bureau intends to send a “strong message” to the state by pledging $10,000 to its counterpart, the Kings County Farm Bureau, in the latter’s legal fight against groundwater sanctions issued by the Water Resources Control Board.
“We felt it was still a warranted action to lend support to our neighboring county,” said Tricia Stever Blattler executive director for the Tulare farm bureau.
The farm bureau’s most recent newsletter called the donation a “strong message to the state water board that we are committed to supporting this legal battle in hopes it brings positive change to the SGMA process for all landowners involved.”
In September, the Kings farm bureau won a preliminary injunction against the Water Board preventing the state from imposing sanctions that were instituted as a result of the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, being placed on probation for failing to come up with an adequate plan to protect the region’s groundwater per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
The state has appealed that injunction.
“Our neighboring county of Kings has really created some momentum around their cause of action, and we felt that it was time to show our support and make a pledge that will help them ensure they have funding to continue meeting the needs of the lawsuit and getting counsel from their attorney,” Tulare’s Stever Blattler told SJV Water.
The Tulare farm bureau waited to show its support until after the state held probation hearings on the Tule subbasin, which covers the southern part of Tulare County’s flatlands, according to the farm bureau newsletter. In September the Water Board also placed that subbasin on probation, with some exceptions. The Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District and Kern-Tulare Water District groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) were exempted from certain reporting requirements under probation.
On Nov. 15, the Water Board canceled a Jan. 7, 2025 probation hearing for the Kaweah subbasin to give staff more time to look over a new groundwater plan submitted by in June.
“We thank Tulare County Farm Bureau for their thoughtful contribution,” Kings County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dusty Ference said. “Their support showcases the value of our efforts in California.”
Under SGMA, probation requires farmers to meter and register their wells at $300 each, report extractions to the state and pay $20 per acre foot pumped. Those fees are on top of other fees farmers pay to their groundwater agencies as well as what they pay to their water districts.
Probation lasts for a year while state bureaucrats and local groundwater managers try and work out an acceptable plan to bring aquifers into balance by 2040, as mandated by SGMA. If they can’t come up with an adequate plan in that time, the state could then take over and institute its own pumping allocations.
The Kern subbasin will go before the Water Board Feb. 20, 2025. The Chowchilla and Delta-Mendota subbasins are expected to have hearings later in 2025.
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