By Monserrat Solis, SJV Water
The state Water Resources Control Board announced Monday it is appealing a Kings County judge’s preliminary injunction that has forced the state to hold off on measures intended to corral excessive groundwater pumping in the region.
The Water Board filed a notice to appeal Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Cuiffini’s Sept. 13 ruling. The appeal will be considered at the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno.
According to a Water Board statement, the appeal “…seeks to rectify a broad injunction that prevents it from taking action stemming from the probationary designation of the critically overdrafted Tulare Lake Subbasin – delaying state oversight and exacerbating the harmful impacts experienced by local communities, California Native American tribes, farmers and the environment due to excessive groundwater pumping.”
“I don’t know if we expected it. We knew it was a possibility,” said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, which sued the Water Board and sought the injunction after the state placed the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, on probation April 16.
It’s unclear at the moment what the Water Board is seeking to rectify, since the appeal filing is not available online. Normally, the appellant will make a case that a legal error occurred that changed the outcome of the ruling, but no new evidence will be considered.
Though Ciuffini said the Water Board exceeded its authority and made unlawful demands of Kings County water managers in an attempt to control groundwater pumping at a state level, the state continues to stand its ground.
“The State Water Board believes that SGMA is clear and that the board has the statutory authority it needs to implement SGMA, as it has in the Tulare Lake Subbasin, to protect vital groundwater supplies,” the statement read.
SGMA refers to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which aims to have local entities bring aquifers into balance by 2040. But plans submitted by local Tulare Lake subbasin agencies were rejected as inadequate and it was placed on probation.
Probation is the first step toward the state possibly dictating how much water can be pumped from the region. Under the designation, farmers would have had to meter and register their wells at $300 each, report extractions and pay a $20-per-acre-foot pumping fee.
Those measures were put on hold by Cuiffini’s ruling pending the outcome of the Kings County Farm Bureau’s lawsuit.
The Tulare Lake subbasin was the first of six San Joaquin Valley subbasins to come under Water Board scrutiny.
The Tule subbasin, which covers the southern half of Tulare County’s flatlands, was put on probation Sept. 17. The Kaweah subbasin, covering Tulare County’s northern half, has its probation hearing Jan. 7 and the Kern subbasin will come before the board Feb. 20. Water Board staff have recommended both of those regions be put on probation, though they have submitted new plans.
The Chowchilla and Delta-Mendota subbasins will come before the board sometime later in 2025.
Water managers for all those regions are closely watching the outcome of this Kings County lawsuit.
SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org
