The board potentially could begin restricting water extractions in a year. The probationary status imposes only recording requirements and fees.
By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service
California’s state water board Tuesday placed the Tule Subbasin on probationary status after a day-long hearing in which water agencies asked for a delay and a community group and many others urged for sanctions.
The State Water Resources Control Board’s unanimous vote puts fees and reporting requirements on those who pull groundwater from the area. It’s the second such designation made this year by the board, with the first being the neighboring Tulare Lake Subbasin in April.
The state intervention stems from Tule Subbasin groundwater sustainability agencies, which include water districts and similar entities, failing to submit proper plans to manage groundwater. When that happens, the state can step in and impose reporting requirements and fees. State intervention is intended to be temporary until the local agencies fix their water management plans.
“We don’t take this decision lightly,” said E. Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the state water board, at the start of Tuesday’s meeting.
Esquivel echoed that sentiment at the meeting’s end when he advocated for placing the subbasin on probation.
Other board members agreed.
“We really are at a crisis situation,” Vice Chair Dorene D’Adamo said.
The Tule Subbasin is in Tulare and Kern counties. It spans almost 476,000 acres, some 744 square miles, and includes the city of Porterville, along with 12 other communities.
The original groundwater sustainability plans were submitted to the Department of Water Resources in January 2020. Two years later, the department determined the plans weren’t complete.
That led the agencies to revise their plans in July 2022, which the department later decided were inadequate. That led to a process resulting in Tuesday’s meeting and, ultimately, the board’s decision to place the subbasin on probationary status.
However, two agencies within the Tule Subbasin — the Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District and the Kern-Tulare Water District — were excluded from the reporting and fee requirements, as the board determined they had adequately managed their groundwater.
Board staff recommended the probationary status and members agreed that the management plans had several issues. The plans had no proper definition of what constituted an undesirable result. They also had no path to achieve sustainability and lacked essential details on how to meet certain goals. Additionally, the plans didn’t propose enough monitoring, which would help determine trends.
The probationary designation will impose a $300 fee for each well a year, along with $20 for each acre-foot extracted. Agencies would also face a 25% per month late fee. Well operators also have annual reporting requirements, which will include the location and capacity of each well, along with monthly extraction amounts and the place and purpose of the water’s use. Additionally, they must use an approved method to track the water used.
Most domestic wells won’t face fees or reporting requirements.
Extractors must start collecting data on Jan. 1, the same day the fees begin. The first annual report is due Feb. 1, 2026.
The premise behind state intervention is to correct the issues in the groundwater sustainability plans. If those problems aren’t fixed after a year, the water board could begin imposing restrictions on water extraction.
Water agencies within the subbasin asked the board to delay its decision, or alternatively to grant them an exemption. Many noted they already had taken steps toward improving their management plans, with some imposing fees on those who exceed pumping limits and setting aside money for mitigation.
However, a handful of people connected to the Community Water Center urged the board to put the subbasin on a probationary status.
Beverley Whitfield, from Pixley, said her grown children immediately ask for bottled water when they come to visit.
“If you keep pumping and pumping, eventually you’re not going to have any water down there,” she said, adding moments later: “I think they should be on probation. I believe we deserve better.”
A handful of others also said they buy water and filters while paying a monthly water bill for a product they don’t drink.
Christina Velazquez said she’s seen the water quality drop over the past few years. She called it dirty and said it lacked pressure. She also buys bottled water.
“We can’t even drink our own water and we’re paying for it,” she added.
A water agency CEO also asked the water board to implement the probationary status. Jason Phillips, with the Friant Water Authority, slammed the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency. He said Eastern Tule, which earlier that day asked to delay a probationary designation, provided old information to the board. Subsidence — land sinking, in this case because groundwater is overdrawn — has significantly affected the 152-mile Friant-Kern Canal that’s costly to repair and is threatening investments.
Phillips said he had no problem if the water board delayed putting other area water agencies on probation, but said Eastern Tule needed it, as it would create a deadline for its compliance.
Several people who spoke during the meeting’s general public comment also asked the board to place the subbasin on probation.
Mac Glackin, with Clean Water Action, said a probationary designation would hold the agencies accountable to the human right to water. Overdrawing groundwater has led to contamination which must be monitored.
“Probation is an essential step for the subbasin to reach sustainability,” Glackin said.
Many farmers asked the board to think about the effects probation would have. Jim Morehead said the value of his land has dropped by 70% over the past few years. He no longer sees a future in Tulare County.
Agriculture in California gets overshadowed by coastal industries like entertainment, tourism and tech, Morehead added.
“Without local farms, Pixley will struggle to survive,” he added.
Other coverage …
State puts second San Joaquin Valley groundwater basin on probation, with two exceptions
“Farmers in southern Tulare County will face greater pumping scrutiny after the state placed the region on probation following a lengthyhearing in Sacramento on Tuesday. State Water Resources Control Board members acknowledged a new groundwater plan submitted by water managers in August had made great strides in many areas. But the big sticking point was subsidence, or land sinking. Calling the situation a “crisis,” State Water Resources Control Board members voted unanimously to put the Tule groundwater subbasin on probation based on a staff report that showed subsidence continues to plague the region, causing ongoing damage to the vital Friant-Kern Canal. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
