By Monserrat Solis, SJV Water
Groundwater agencies in the beleaguered Tulare Lake subbasin in Kings County have released a region-wide pumping allocation model – but disagreements continue.
The proposed methodology was discussed at the Dec. 9 El Rico Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) meeting where representatives from four of the five GSAs were in attendance.
The proposed methodology is based on historical groundwater use within the subbasin.
Sustainable pumping allocations based on historical use would look like this:
- Mid-Kings River GSA, 1.24 acre feet per acre of land
- South Fork Kings GSA, .63 acre feet per acre of land
- El Rico GSA , .73 acre feet per acre of land
- South West Kings GSA, .15 acre feet per acre of land
- Tri-County Groundwater Authority, .33 acre feet per acre of land
Using a coordinated methodology for figuring out how much each GSA can pump is critical to earning approval from the state Water Resources Control Board, which has already put the subbasin on probation and will soon begin charging farmers fees and requiring them to report extractions.
Still, the GSAs found fault with the proposed method.
El Rico’s Chair Jeof Wyrick pointed out that Tri-County was asking for more acre feet than their historical use called for.
Tri-County is asking for 15,000 acre feet, or 3% of its historical use when its historical usage is 8,127 acre feet, or 1%, in the subbasin.
“I honestly don’t see how you can raise the amount of pumping that you’ve never done given that we’re critically overdrafted in the subbasin,” Wyrick said of Tri-County’s proposed allocation during the meeting.
Tri-County Executive Director Deanna Jackson responded to Wyrick’s concerns: “We have to remember, this isn’t an adjudication. This is a negotiation between the subbasin and Tri-County’s asking for 15,000 acre feet out of 350,000 acre feet.”
Jackson further explained that she isn’t looking to increase pumping or create negative impacts, such as land sinking or drying up wells.
When asked if it was Tri-County’s intent to allow more pumping or to gather water credits, Jackson said she wanted to “…maintain the historical water use in Tri-County.”
Tri-County, which has a foot in the Tule and Tulare Lake subbasins, covers 117,247 acres with 69,006 in the Tule subbasin and 48,241 in the Tulare Lake subbasin.
In the Tulare Lake subbasin, Tri-County has already fallowed about 43,741 acres, leaving 4,500 acres in production.
An estimated 700,000 acres are expected to be fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley overall.
Meanwhile, Wyrick said that South West GSA was sticking with its maximum historical use of 20,902 acre feet, or 4% of historical pumping in the subbasin, instead of reducing its pumping.
A representative for South West was not present.
South Fork’s General Manager Johnny Gailey said South Fork’s allocation is low while South West’s was higher than it should be.
“I don’t think (South West) has that many functional wells to even be able to pump 20,000 acre feet in any time in history,” Gailey said during the meeting.
At a recent South Fork advisory group meeting, Craig Andrews, who sits on the South West GSA and Tri-County board, said that Sandridge Partners LLC, which is controlled by John Vidovich, owns about 15,000 acres in South Fork.
Those acres were purchased to legally pump groundwater out of South Fork and onto cropland in South West.
“It’s a head scratcher,” Wyrick said. “Everyone else is taking a hit. So there’s three GSAs taking the brunt and those other two are increasing or staying the same.”
El Rico is taking on a larger portion of water pumped by the Cities of Hanford, Lemoore and Stratford, Wyrick said, which is cutting into El Rico’s allocation.
“I think a concern that El Rico GSA has is that all of the (city) usage is being spread as if it’s evenly applied across the subbasin when in reality, it’s not. It’s more concentrated near the city,” he said.
The Mid-Kings River and South Fork Kings GSAs each released draft pumping allocation policies for public comment in October. Those policies set “sustainable yield,” the amount that can be pumped without causing negative impacts at higher levels than what was discussed during the El Rico meeting.
Mid-Kings proposed to allow its farmers to pump a base amount of 1.43 acre feet per acre of land. South Fork is proposing a base allocation of .66 of an acre foot per acre of land. Those amounts are slightly different from what would be allowed under the model discussed during the Dec. 9 El Rico meeting.
“So, I think what we’re looking for from El Rico’s side is these aren’t the final numbers,” Wyrick said during the meeting. “But all the GSAs are trying to come to a place where we are coordinated when we reach back out to the state board with our next round of GSPs.”
