It took half a dozen attempts but Kern water managers finally came up with a groundwater plan that met with state approval.
The state Water Resources Control Board voted on Wednesday to move the Kern subbasin out from under its enforcement purview and back under oversight of the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
The move is a huge relief to area farmers and water managers who had been facing the prospect of being put on probation. Probation comes with severe sanctions including requiring farmers to meter and register wells at $300 each, report extractions to the state and pay $20 per acre foot pumped.
Earlier this year, Water Board staff had recommended the region be put on probation as its groundwater plan wasn’t protective enough of drinking water and didn’t do enough to stem subsidence, among other deficiencies.
The Water Board felt the plan had made progress, however, and agreed in February to give locals more time to work on it.
The result was a plan that Water Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel said showed a remarkable amount of work and that he was “thoroughly impressed” by the outcome.
Key among the improvements were programs to respond to domestic well owners and small drinking water systems in the event of dry wells, or contamination caused by groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) actions.
Board members also lauded Kern’s robust outreach efforts, in which GSAs engaged with the community, in general, and disadvantaged communities, in particular, to hear their water concerns.
Water Board member Laurel Firestone said the plan now creates “…a realistic path forward.”
Kern subbasin Coordination Committee Chair Derek Yurosek noted farmers and water managers have already begun implementing actions outlined in the plan and seen benefits. Through land retirement and pumping allocations, the basin reduced pumping by more than 113,000 acre feet in 2024, which is 31% of the plan’s overall demand reduction goal.
Agriculture needs overdraft the basin, on average, by 277,000 acre feet a year. While the basin plan calls for even more recharge projects, most of that overdraft – 99% – is expected to be corrected through demand reduction.
That means even more farmland will be taken out of production, possibly up to 200,000 acres, according to some estimates.
Water Board members said they understood this plan isn’t perfect but that’s not the goal of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
“There are a couple areas that I hope will continue to evolve,” said Water Board Member Sean Maguire. Those include addressing subsidence to better understand what’s causing it and who’s responsible. Subsidence around the California Aqueduct in western Kern County could become a political hot potato as state agencies have begun asking if the oil and gas industry could also be a culprit.
Maguire noted that DWR recently issued draft guidelines on subsidence and appreciated that Kern managers were already looking at those to incorporate into their plan.
“Adaptive management is what’s needed going forward,” he said. “One of the goals (of the Water Board process) is we want to avoid a situation where send you to DWR and you have come back again.”
Even several advocacy groups that supported probation acknowledged Kern subbasin coordinators had made community involvement a priority.
Though several complained that GSA’s should find ways for the public to access meetings more easily, such as making the overarching coordination committee public. There are 20 GSAs making it difficult to track actions taken at all those meetings.
“I don’t understand why the coordination committee is private,” said Jennifer Cleary, with California Clean Water Action. “Yes, the GSAs are public, but the agendas don’t give a lot of information and agendas often just say ‘update.'”
Maguire later added that he did not believe a year ago that Kern would be able to put together a workable plan to get out of enforcement.
In casting her affirmative vote, Water Board Vice Chair Dorene D’Adamo echoed Maguire’s comments saying early on, Kern water interests were more intent on others listening to their needs and had since done a 180, doing most of the listening.
“We hope we don’t see you back here again,” D’Adamo said. “But if needs be, we’re here.”
Two other San Joaquin Valley subbasins were put on probation in 2024.
The Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, was placed on probation in April 2024. But sanctions have been held at bay pending the outcome of a preliminary injunction issued in a lawsuit filed against the Water Board by the Kings County Farm Bureau.
The Tule subbasin, which covers the southern half of Tulare County’s flat lands was put on probation in Sept. 2024. Required reporting and fees have yet to get underway there.
Two other valley subbasins, the Kaweah in northern Tulare County and the Chowchilla subbasins both similarly escaped probation when the Water Board found their updated plans adequate.