The Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MKGSA) has been given a reprieve to the possibility of the State Water Resources Control Board putting the basin on probation.
The MKGSA is comprised of the City of Visalia, the City of Tulare and the Tulare Irrigation District.
According to the State Water resources Control Board website, “The deadline for written comments on the probationary hearing draft staff report for the Kaweah Subbasin concluded on July 8, 2024. The purpose of the Draft Staff Report was to inform the State Water Board as it considered whether to designate the Kaweah Subbasin as a probationary basin consistent with the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
“The January 7 probationary hearing has been cancelled to allow State Water Board staff to complete a thorough review of amended groundwater sustainability plans received for the subbasin. If the State Water Board schedules a new probationary hearing at a later date, the Board will release a new public notice at least 90 days prior to the scheduled hearing.
“Local groundwater sustainability agencies in the Kaweah Subbasin released amended plans on June 13, 2024, and revised versions of those amended plans on October 3, 2024.
“At the request of the State Water Board, Board staff completed a high-level preliminary review of these amended plans and have seen substantial progress on how these plans address the deficiencies identified in the Kaweah Subbasin Draft Staff Report. Board staff is optimistic about this progress; however, additional work needs to be done to determine if enough progress has been made for the subbasin to exit state intervention under the State Water Board’s authorities and return to the Department of Water Resources for plan review and oversight.
“The State Water Board is cancelling the probationary hearing so that staff can complete a thorough review of these plans to fully determine if deficiencies are sufficiently addressed to achieve groundwater sustainability in the subbasin.”
According to a Mid-Kaweah GSA spokesperson, “2024 was a hectic year for the Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MKGSA), focusing on avoiding a SWRCB Probationary Hearing. To accomplish this, the MKGSA worked with the Greater Kaweah GSA (GKGSA) and the East Kaweah GSA (EKGSA) to revise our groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) and to collaboratively work with the SWRCB to deliver GSPs that could avoid the Kaweah Subbasin being put on a ‘Probationary’ Status. A Probationary status would mean that the growers and landowners in the Kaweah Subbasin would pay millions of dollars in pumping fees and report groundwater pumping to the SWRCB in 2025.
“The MKGSA successfully adopted our MKGSA 2024 Seconded Amended Groundwater Sustainability Plan (MKGSA 2nd Amended GSP) in mid-November and submitted that document to the SWRCB. Prior to the submission the MKGSA, GKGSA, and EKGSA worked tirelessly with our local advisory committees, groundwater users, and SWRCB staff to develop and a new and aggressive 2nd Amended GSPs that achieves groundwater sustainability by 2040.
“The SWRCB recognized the hard work and significant changes that were incorporated and concluded that with the work done on the Kaweah Subbasin GSPs, there was no need for the SWRCB to consider a Probationary status and would therefore cancel the January 7th hearing. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.”