SJV WATER: Tulare County irrigation districts try to ‘right the ship’ toward groundwater sustainability. But will it be enough?

By Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

Three Tulare County irrigation districts that recently found themselves in the state’s crosshairs over groundwater extractions and subsidence are scrambling to show officials they are getting on the right side of “sustainability.”

The boards of the Terra Bella, Porterville and Saucelito irrigation districts each approved resolutions seeking to cut back the amount of groundwater farmers can pump within their boundaries.

“We would like to demonstrate that we are moving more quickly toward sustainability, and the fact that we’re willing to not overpump is the first step to making that case,” said Sean Geivet, general manager of all three districts.

“We want to right the ship going forward,” affirmed Brett McCowan, a Porterville district board member.

But some say the action may be too little, too late.

Groundwater allocations are actually doled out by the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), which overlays all three districts. So, technically, the districts’ groundwater preferences are requests to the Eastern Tule GSA, which must vote separately on any future groundwater allocations.

Rogelio Caudillo, Eastern Tule’s general manager, declined to comment when reached by SJV Water. The Eastern Tule board meets Oct. 3 to consider allocations for the 2025 water year.

In any event, critics of Eastern Tule’s groundwater accounting system say the votes by Terra Bella, Porterville and Saucelito irrigation districts will not do much to stem the subsidence that has plagued the region, including sinking a section of the Friant-Kern Canal.

That’s because Eastern Tule allotted far too many groundwater credits when it first developed its accounting system in 2018-2020, critics say. And it allowed those credits to be transferred, including to areas with no surface water that are outside of irrigation district boundaries.

“There is a huge balance of unused credits that can be transferred all over the place,” said Attorney Alex Peltzer, who represents neighboring GSAs, Lower Tule and Pixley. “Because of their accounting system, their subsidence management plan will have zero effect.”

State officials even looked askance at Eastern Tule’s groundwater accounting during the state Water Resources Control Board’s probationary hearing Sept. 17. The Water Board voted to put the region, known as the Tule subbasin, on probation, largely because of ongoing subsidence which was called “alarming.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Water Board member Laurel Firestone said of Eastern Tule’s groundwater accounting during the hearing.

How groundwater credits were allotted and allowed to be transferred is also the crux of a lawsuit against Eastern Tule by the Friant Water Authority, which manages the Friant-Kern Canal. Friant claims that an overabundance of groundwater credits allowed Eastern Tule farmers in undistricted lands to continue pumping, and sinking the canal, while avoiding “penalty fees” that were supposed to help pay for a share of the cost to fix the canal.

Friant used a combination of funding from its own water contractors and state and federal sources to pay $326 million to rebuild a section of the canal which had sunk, reducing its carrying capacity by 60%. Per an agreement on penalty fees attached to pumping, it had anticipated $200 million from Eastern Tule but has so far been paid only $17 million.

Meanwhile, the rebuilt section of the canal, which runs through Eastern Tule, has continued to sink. As the lawsuit grinds forward, Friant is seeking to make up that funding shortfall by possibly assessing extra fees to the Porterville, Terra Bella, Saucelito and Tea Pot Dome irrigation districts, which are all within Eastern Tule’s boundaries

Despite the criticism, Porterville’s McCowan said the districts’ resolutions to ask Eastern Tule to cut back groundwater allocations will provide needed action.

“We think we have the votes on the ETGSA board to get this done and will be talking to their board to make sure the white lands don’t try to get it,” he said. White lands refers to farms outside of water district boundaries, which is usually white on water district maps.

Cutting supplies to those farmers, though, can have other consequences, said Eric Borba, President of Porterville Irrigation District.

 “If they don’t farm, Jason (Phillips, CEO of Friant Water Authority) doesn’t get his money. And if Jason doesn’t get money, he takes it out of our pocket.”

Farmers, meanwhile, are growing frustrated with what they see as strategies to delay the inevitable.

“We know what we need to do, but can we stretch it a bit and soften the blow?” said farm manager Adam Mendoza. He oversees farms in seven GSAs in 11 water districts throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

“We should have known about this a year ago,” he said while waiting outside the Saucelito Irrigation District meeting. “You’ve got to look ahead and run these districts like a business.”