Contact:

East Kaweah GSA, Michael Hagman 

(559) 562-2534 or mhagman@lindmoreid.com

Greater Kaweah GSA, Mark Larsen 

(559) 302-9987 or mlarsen@greaterkaweahgsa.org

Mid-Kaweah GSA, Aaron Fukuda 

(559) 707-8928 or akf@tulareid.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

The Kaweah Sub-Basin (KSB) Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) announce the following:

May 6, 2024 – State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) staff released the Kaweah Subbasin Probationary Hearing Draft Staff Report (Draft Staff Report), which contains their recommendations that the Kaweah Sub-basin be designated as  “Probationary.”  The SWRCB announced it will hold two workshops: a virtual workshop on June 24th and an in person workshop on June 27th (Sequoia High School).  The notice also sets the SWRCB “Probation Hearing” for November 5th.

KSB Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) leads and technical teams have been working closely with the SWRCB Staff over the last several months on revising our Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) according to comments provided by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).  Some of the issues and statements in the Draft Staff Report were expected and well documented, while others are new and will need to be evaluated by the KSB GSAs.

The KSB GSAs are close to completing work on revised GSPs and anticipate those will be available towards the end of May or early June. Additional deficiencies identified by the SWRCB in the Draft Staff Report will require the Draft GSPs be further amended and the KSB GSAs wish to collaborate that work with the SWRCB to avoid probation and continue the progress that the Kaweah Subbasin has made in pursuit of groundwater sustainability.

While revising the GSPs, the KSB GSAs have undertaken tremendous work to implement projects and management actions to achieve groundwater sustainability. The KSB GSAs have constructed and completed numerous recharge basins and other groundwater projects, such as vadose zone injection wells and linear recharge projects. The most notable management actions the KSB GSAs have implemented include allocations, groundwater pumping limits and fees for groundwater use. These actions have provided reductions in groundwater usage in dry periods and increases in groundwater recharge in wet years.

How we got here – DWR twice reviewed the KSB GSPs and determined them to be inadequate for the following  reasons: 1)  Water Level Sustainable Management Criteria (SMC) (lack of coordination of the SMCs), 2)  Subsidence Analysis (allowed overdraft and subsidence SMCs need to correlate), and 3)  Integrated Surface Water (develop a plan to address the data gaps)

After DWR determined the KSB GSPs were inadequate, the plans and the basin were placed in the purview of the SWRCB.  The SWRCB draft staff report includes additional challenges for the KSB GSAs.  In particular, the SWRCB adds the issues of Mitigation of Impacts, Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems, Human Right to Water, water quality, and subsidence impacts on water quality.

KSB staff and technical leads will be developing a coordinated response to the issues in the SWRCB Draft Staff Report and for the SWRCB Workshops next month. The KSB GSAs look forward to sharing our work and progress towards groundwater sustainability.

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The Kaweah Subbasin, consisting of East Kaweah, Greater Kaweah, and Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agencies have issued this response following the release of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Kaweah Subbasin Probationary Hearing Draft Staff Report.