By Monserrat Solis, SJV Water
Some Kings County farmers may see invoices for groundwater pumping fees from the state by the end of this year, or as soon as October.
The state Water Board Resources Control Board is preparing to bill landowners in the Tulare Lake subbasin, which cover most of Kings County, as part of probationary measures it imposed in 2024 after the region failed to produce a plan to protect groundwater as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Fees had been held in limbo pending a legal question in an ongoing lawsuit. But a Kings County Superior Court Judge ruled in mid-August that the Water Board could begin billing most Tulare Lake farmers, except those in two groundwater agencies. The Tri-County Water Authority and Southwest King Groundwater Sustainability Agency were exempted.
Exactly when invoices will hit mailboxes is a little squishy.
“By the end of the year, and likely beginning in October, however, the timing for the invoicing will depend on pending litigation,” Edward Ortiz, a spokesperson from the Water Board wrote in an email.
Farmers in the neighboring Tule subbasin, which covers the southern half of Tulare County’s flatlands, should be receiving groundwater bills soon as the first wave was sent Aug. 6. The Tule subbasin was also placed on probation in 2024.
Both regions have suffered severe subsidence, or land sinking, from excessive groundwater pumping. SGMA requires critically overdrafted areas to bring aquifers into balance by 2040 and gives the Water Board enforcement powers to achieve that goal.
