By Monsserat Solis, SJV Water
The Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) approved a pumping allocation over objections from neighboring agencies and without any indication it will be approved by the state.
“I’ve got to make decisions this month, next month, whether I’m gonna spend money on those trees or pull them out now,” farmer Dan Fiser said during Mid-Kings’ Dec. 16 meeting.
The Mid-Kings board approved a pumping allocation of 1.43 acre feet per acre of land, more than twice that of the neighboring South Fork Kings GSA, which is proposing .66 of an acre foot per acre of land for its farmers.
South Fork and several other entities have objected to Mid-Kings’ allocation, saying it’s far too generous.
Fiser, who relies solely on groundwater, was fearful of depending on the controversial pumping allocation that the state Water Resources Control Board may not approve.
Mid-Kings chair and Kings County Supervisor, Doug Verboon told Fiser to stay calm.
“I don’t want anybody to overreact. Don’t panic,” said Verboon, who is also a walnut farmer.
But Amer Hussain, the GSA’s engineering consultant, confirmed the state Water Board could demand changes.
“They (Water Board) are going to ask us to show that our plan is effective and that it’s meeting all the requirements. The state can come back and say ‘Hey, you need to continue to modify your plan accordingly,’” Hussain said during the meeting. “We think this is a good start. We’ve based this on the best information we have to date and we are comfortable that we can defend these values to the state.”
The uncertainty about state reaction is compounded by the fact that the state isn’t meeting with water managers in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, because of a pending legal action.
The Kings County Farm Bureau sued the Water Board after it placed the subbasin on probation in April 2024. Under probation, farmers must report extractions, register wells at $300 each and pay the state $20 per acre foot pumped.
Those sanctions were held at bay after the Farm Bureau obtained a preliminary injunction.
Water Board staff declined to meet with Tulare Lake subbasin water matters while the injunction was in place.
The injunction was overturned in October and the Water Board announced farmers would have to begin reporting extractions in May.
Then the Farm Bureau appealed the injunction reversal to the state Supreme Court and Water Board staff have, again, retreated from meeting with water managers.
Tulare Lake subbasin agencies have independently continued to revise their groundwater plans in hopes of Water Board approval that would release the region from probation.
But one of the basic tenets of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is that agencies in a subbasin must coordinate on basics, such as how much water can be pumped without causing negative effects, such as drying up domestic wells..
A letter from the South Fork GSA regarding Mid-Kings’ pumping allocation, however, shows how far the agencies are from such coordination.
It accuses Mid-Kings of exaggerating its sustainable yield, how much can be pumped without causing negative impacts.
“It seems that MKR GSA is rewarding this behavior and utilizing its historically excessive pumping to artificially inflate its sustainable yield determination,” the letter states.
