By Lois Henry, SJV Water
Groundwater agencies throughout the Kern subbasin approved a fourth groundwater sustainability plan in December in hopes it will finally be their ticket to staying out of probation.
The major changes in this new plan include a robust, $3 million program to fix domestic wells that may be harmed by dropping water tables and a pledge to keep the lowest allowable water table, known as “minimum thresholds,” at no lower than 61 feet below historic lows across the entire subbasin, according to Jeevan Muhar, General Manager of the Arvin-Edison Water Storage District Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), one of 20 GSAs in the Kern subbasin.
That change raised minimum thresholds from the plan submitted to the state in May 2024.
Minimum thresholds were a key issue for state regulators, which found the 2024 plan focused on setting water tables based on historic trends rather than focusing on levels that would be most protective of domestic wells.
“These thresholds could result in groundwater levels declining below historic lows without triggering any management actions,” Water Board staff wrote of the Kern region’s May 2024 plan.
Staff deemed the May 2024 plan inadequate and recommended Kern be placed on probation. A probation hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20, 2025.
Muhar also noted the new, December 2024 plan, sets a policy that the GSAs must investigate and take action any time a minimum threshold is exceeded in a single well.
“The basin has done a tremendous job to address both the (Department of Water Resources) deficiencies and (Water Board) feedback with meaningful changes from the draft to adopted plans,” Muhar wrote in a text message. “Any remaining concerns are data gaps that the basin is committed to timely addressing, if applicable.”
If the state Water Board finds this new plan inadequate, it could order the region to be placed on probation. Probation means growers would have to meter and register their wells at $300 each, report extractions to the state and pay an additional $20 per acre foot pumped, on top of fees already paid to groundwater agencies and water districts.
If, after a year of working with the state, the region still can’t come up with an adequate plan, the state could step in and issue its own pumping restrictions.
