Opportunity to Provide Public Comment on the Release of the Draft 2025 Amended Kern County Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plans ahead of the September 17 Public Hearing Continuance for the Consideration of a Probationary Designation for the Kern County Subbasin
From the State Water Board:
On September 17, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) will hold a public hearing to consider designating the Kern County Subbasin as probationary under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), as part of efforts to ensure groundwater resources will be available into the future for people to use. As identified in Resolution No. 2025-0007, this is a continuance of the February 20, 2025 Kern County Subbasin probationary designation public hearing.
Resolution No. 2025-0007 requested that the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the Kern County Subbasin provide Board staff with amended draft Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) by June 20, 2025. As requested, the Kern County Subbasin GSAs submitted updated draft GSPs; the State Water Board invites public comment on the draft 2025 amended GSPs by the deadline identified below. These comments will be taken into consideration by the State Water Board when determining whether to designate the subbasin as probationary.
If the State Water Board designates the subbasin probationary, the Board will identify deficiencies in the GSPs and potential actions that the GSAs in the subbasin could take to address the deficiencies. If the subbasin is designated as probationary, the State Water Board will also identify which groundwater pumpers will need to report their groundwater extractions and pay fees to the Board, separate from any reporting and fees required by the applicable GSA. The State Water Board may also require specific pumpers to install and measure their groundwater pumping with meters or other reliable measurement methods.
Accessing the Draft 2025 Amended Kern County Subbasin GSPs
The Draft 2025 Amended Kern County Subbasin GSPs can be accessed on the State Water Board’s FTP site here: https://ftp.waterboards.ca.gov/?u=PCL-FTP&p=8ZHs8m
- Use the following pathway to access the PDF files: 2025>June>06202025_SGMA_KernGSPs
Public Comments
Please submit any comments to SGMA-Kern@waterboards.ca.gov and use the subject line Comments – Kern County Subbasin.” If the file is greater than 15 megabytes in size, please submit by fax at (916) 341-5620, in multiple emails, or by mail.
Comments can also be submitted by mail:
Courtney Tyler, Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100, Sacramento, CA 95812-2000
The deadline for written comments is 12:00 noon on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
More information:
- Visit the Kern County Subbasin webpage and the Board’s general SGMA webpage.
Questions? Contact the SGMA Program at sgma@waterboards.ca.gov or 916-322-6508.
Map of the Kern County Groundwater Subbasin
