Landowners should act quickly to lock in their reserved share by February 29th before the credits become part of a shared pool for anyone to buy.

To purchase Mitigation Tier (surface water) credits, log into your dashboard account, use the payment calculator tool to generate an invoice for the water you are purchasing, print the invoice, and mail it with a check to East Kaweah GSA at P.O. Box 908, Lindsay, CA 93247. Alternatively, you can fill out the order form and mail a check with the form enclosed to P.O. BOX 908, LINDSAY, CA 93247.

Surface water credits are now available to purchase for East Kaweah GSA landowners for $500 per acre-foot. The credits act as an additional water allocation, allowing landowners to pump more when they need extra water. These credits do not expire.

Landowners have from February 1st through February 29th to purchase a reserved share of up to 0.05 acre-feet per acre of surface water credits before it returns to a shared pool for anyone in the GSA to claim.

Landowners with Irrigated Acres within the East Kaweah GSA boundary can use these credits to pump during drier years if they choose to purchase credits. The surface water credits will be tracked on the landowners’ Water Dashboard accounts and can be used at any time. This credit is the Mitigation Tier as referenced in the 2024 Allocation.

Unlike imported groundwater supplies that are limited by the pumping cap, which kicks in once a grower exceeds their 2.5 acre-feet per acre of pumped water, using this Mitigation Tier credit is not calculated as part of the pumping cap because the Mitigation Tier is a “surface water supply”.

Pumping beyond the hard cap not only tacks on a $500 per acre-foot fine, but also reduces landowners’ future allocation credits in their water account. This opportunity is unique because there is no future deduction, nor does the credit ever expire. Ultimately this means landowners who purchase the Mitigation Tier water can pump more water, going above the penalty cap up to the purchased amount, without future deductions.

East Kaweah GSA prioritizes supporting landowners and has made these surface water credits available by purchasing surface water supplies from Wutchumna Water Company. To meet the needs for Well Mitigation under SMGA, East Kaweah GSA is purchasing surface water and distributing the opportunity to purchase those credits to all Irrigated Lands.

Because the water supply purchased from Wutchumna is not restricted by district boundaries, the purchase ultimately benefits all East Kaweah GSA landowners including those in non-district white areas by offering the water as an additional surface water allocation credit.

To purchase these Mitigation Tier surface water credits, landowners can log into their Water Dashboard accounts, use the payment calculator tool to generate an invoice for the water they are purchasing, print the invoice, and mail it to East Kaweah GSA at P.O. Box 908 Lindsay, CA 93247. Alternatively, landowners can fill out this form and mail a check with the form enclosed to East Kaweah GSA at P.O. Box 908 Lindsay, CA 93247. *All payments must be received by February 29, 2024*

You can learn more and refer to allocation information and resources at www.ekgsa.org/allocation.