State water board agrees on probation for Tule Subbasin

By Christine Souza

Some farmers who rely on groundwater in portions of the Tule Subbasin in Tulare and Kern counties will face increased scrutiny while others are exempt from fees and reporting requirements, as the state implements the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, to bring critically overdrafted aquifers into balance by 2040.

At its meeting in Sacramento last week, the California State Water Resources Control Board passed a resolution that probation is warranted for the Tule Subbasin because plans submitted by most of its groundwater sustainability agencies failed to show how actions would address problems such as land subsidence, which has led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the Friant-Kern Canal.

Starting Jan. 1, affected groundwater users in the subbasin pumping at least 500 acre-feet of water annually must monitor or meter their water use, report their groundwater use to the board, and pay a fee of $300 annually per well and $20 per acre-foot of water pumped.

Based on findings that the Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District GSA and the Kern-Tulare Water District GSA adequately manage groundwater in their parts of the subbasin, the state water board voted to exempt farmers in these areas from reporting requirements and fees through the “good actor” exemption under SGMA.

Alexandra Biering, senior policy advocate for the California Farm Bureau, said through the good actor clause, “some agencies within a basin can be recognized for their good work to achieve sustainability, even if the overall conditions in the basin don’t reflect that on the whole.”

“In this case, use of the good actor provision acknowledges that these GSAs have put in the work, and their portion of the basin likely needs less direct management by the state water board staff, which is a lower cost to the state and reflected in the fee exemption,” Biering added.

On whether to exempt the Lower Tule River Irrigation District GSA and the Pixley Irrigation District GSA, the state water board said it would review updated plans and decide by mid-December.

Eric Limas, who is general manager for the respective irrigation districts and manages the two GSAs, asked that the agencies be excluded from reporting requirements and fees. He said the districts are working to resolve cross-boundary coordination issues with the Tri-County Water Authority GSA related to subsidence.

Through the subsidence management plan, Limas said, “there’s going to be a lot of quicker demand reduction than what we were originally anticipating in our 2020 and 2022 GSPs.”

Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority, which operates and maintains Friant-Kern Canal, urged the state water board to place the subbasin on probation. He said, “alarming amounts of subsidence” affecting the canal is “causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and is threatening the recent $83 million investment from state taxpayers.”

Friant Water Authority has sued the solely groundwater-dependent Eastern Tule GSA, alleging the agency has not done enough to decrease overpumping to reduce damage to the canal and that it has not complied with a settlement agreement to pay for ongoing repairs.

Tricia Stever-Blattler, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, which represents farmers in different affected groundwater sustainability agencies, said, “I don’t think any of us know what the probationary impact will be to the Eastern Tule GSA and Tri-County Water Authority GSA as it pertains to their ability to sustain operations going forward.” She added, “This puts a lot of new costs and burdens on those GSAs and their landowners.”

Stever-Blattler suggested that the Eastern Tule GSA and Tri-County GSA may have to reorganize or dissolve, or there may be a role for Tulare County as state intervention continues.

Thomas Harder, a consultant for the Tule Subbasin, told the state water board that local agencies are committed to making final amendments to the plans to address all deficiencies identified by staff.

“Each of the GSAs are very engaged with their landowners to implement the GSPs and have developed trust and credibility over the last several years,” Harder said. With the help of the state Department of Water Resources, he said, the subbasin hired an outside facilitator to address issues between agencies to achieve “a coordinated and fully developed, sustainable approach.”

Andrew Hart, who farms in the Tule, Kings, Kaweah and Kern subbasins, said navigating SGMA has been challenging, but management actions in the plans are working.

“We have implemented management actions that create an accurate well registry, required meters on all agricultural wells, and implemented a flexible groundwater extraction fee and a robust well mitigation program,” he said. “Our plan has shown how much progress Kern-Tulare (Water District GSA) has made and how we cut our groundwater pumping roughly in half from last year.”

A panel of community members expressed concerns about ensuring that residents have access to safe drinking water, while those representing agriculture talked about the economic burden for farmers.

“For the first time, I don’t see a future for the family farm in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Tulare County farmer Jim Morehead. “The auto parts stores, markets, restaurants and schools all exist to serve those who are employed by the ag industry. Without local farms, Pixley will struggle to survive.”

Morehead told the board that since SGMA was implemented, the value of his land has plummeted by 70%.

The Tule Subbasin is the second critically overdrafted basin to be placed on probation by the state water board. The Tulare Lake Subbasin in Kings County was placed on probation in April. However, there was a pause on probation requirements after a Kings County Superior Court judge last month issued a preliminary injunction. The case stems from a lawsuit brought against the state water board by the Kings County Farm Bureau.

Regarding potential legal action against the state by the Tulare County Farm Bureau, Stever-Blattler said, “Tulare County Farm Bureau sees no role for us in any form of litigation.”

“Many Tule Subbasin farmers have already been innovative and progressive in establishing early conversations and governance, and a conservation land trust is working to add more groundwater recharge projects and help incentivize retirement of certain land to achieve a sustainable basin in the next 20 years,” Stever-Blattler said.

Agencies overseeing the Kaweah, Kern County, Delta-Mendota and Chowchilla subbasins are scheduled to appear before the state water board in early 2025 to learn of their probationary status.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)