State regulators are working to force local agencies to take stronger measures to start controlling long-standing groundwater levels as chronic declines put thousands of home wells at risk and cause the ground to sink in parts of the San Joaquin Valley. .
But those efforts have recently run into trouble, as growers in the Tulare Lake subbasin are filing a lawsuit challenging state officials’ decision to intervene by placing the area on probation — a requirement under California groundwater law for local water management steps taken by the person.
This month, a Kings County judge issued an order temporarily putting the state’s decision on hold and delaying Require Farmers began measuring and reporting how much groundwater they pumped.
“We are fighting for everyone in Kings County, we are fighting for everyone in California,” said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, which responded to the commission’s request in May. The decision sued the state.
Ference said his group aims to overturn the state’s decision and reject measures that farmers say are unreasonable, harm local economies and “go beyond” the requirements of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
“We think this will set a precedent,” Ference said. “We hope the state government will consider more carefully whether to put a sub-basin on probation and understand that their decision will have real ramifications up and down the state.”
A worker sets up irrigation pipes to water a newly planted almond orchard near Tulare in 2021.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
The extent to which the case could hamper state-led groundwater management efforts will depend on upcoming court hearings.
Meanwhile, state officials took a step toward intervening in another part of the San Joaquin Valley, announcing Thursday that they are recommending the state water agency conduct a trial in the Kern County subbasin as well. They said the region’s local plans did not adequately address long-term falling water levels, land subsidence or impacts on water quality, and that a lack of coordination among 20 local agencies was also an issue.
The state water board plans to decide whether to intervene in Kern County at a Feb. 20 meeting after considering whether to take similar measures in two other areas in the San Joaquin Valley. continue and Thule sub-basin. they are among Six major areas Where the state declares local groundwater plans inadequate.
“All of these watersheds face urgent and irreversible damage from groundwater overdraft,” said Natalie Stock, assistant director of the commission’s Office of Sustainable Groundwater Management.
Based on water level trends in the Kern subbasin, a state analysis found that about 230 domestic wells could go dry during the drought, she said. The analysis also found that plans proposed by local agencies could cause water levels to plummet, causing more than 400 wells to dry up.
Land subsidence caused by groundwater depletion is also a major problem, with ground sinking as much as 2.4 feet in some areas since 2015, Stock said. If the ground sinks at this rate, it could damage canals, roads, embankments and other infrastructure.
As water levels drop, the water pumped from the wells also becomes higher in concentrations of harmful contaminants such as arsenic and nitrates, posing health risks.
Stock said the region’s 14 so-called groundwater sustainability agencies began to break up and form new local agencies after state regulators determined in 2022 that the Kern groundwater plan was inadequate. There are currently 20 different groundwater agencies in the region, and they have recently submitted seven separate revised plans.
“I think this reflects the management challenges of the subbasin,” Stock said.
She said some local agencies have also recently split in the Tulare Lakes and Tulai areas over the past few months, “which is concerning because it will make coordination more challenging.”
Craig Branco owns an olive grove and a rental home near Visalia, where two wells ran dry in 2021.
(Irrfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Stork noted, however, that while having a large number of separate agencies and programs can complicate coordination, the state’s 2014 groundwater law allows for it.
“Coordination is critical for sustainable groundwater management,” she said. “Otherwise, actions or decisions in one area could have adverse effects in another area.”
In another region, the Delta-Mendota subbasin, 23 separate local agencies recently came together to submit a single plan covering the entire region, which Stork said is expected to improve coordination.
The state groundwater law, signed nearly 10 years ago, requires local agencies in many areas to develop groundwater plans and curb overexploitation by 2040.
In parts of the Central Valley, state officials have repeatedly disagreed with local water officials over the pace of reducing pumping and the adequacy of measures to protect drinking water supplies and combat subsidence.
As legal restrictions on water pumping take effect over the next few years, the restrictions are expected to require some farmland in the Central Valley to cease production, requiring significant changes in agricultural areas that produce large quantities of nuts, fruits and other crops, as well as cattle and dairy products.
In 2021, water flowed from a well to irrigate orchards near Visalia.
(Irrfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
When Stocker was asked on a conference call with reporters how the Kings County court case might affect work elsewhere in the state, she said: “It only applies to the Tulare Lake subbasin, so it doesn’t affect what we do here. Work in other watersheds.
State Water Authority spokesman Edward Ortiz said agency officials disagreed with the court’s temporary order suspending a requirement that well owners report how much water they pump. He said the requirement is an important part of the trial process and “protects groundwater resources for the benefit of all Californians.”
The decision to place the Tulare Lake District on probation following the board’s vote was widely expected to spark litigation. controversial debate in April. Farmers and representatives of local groundwater agencies urged the state water board to delay intervention to give them more time to improve their plans. But the five-member committee found that local plans did not include enough measures to address falling water levels or subsidence, which have repeatedly damaged embankments.
Last year, long-dry Lake Tulare, which had been drained for agriculture generations ago, resurfaced on thousands of acres of farmland. The lake then receded and growers continued to rely on groundwater.
Large landowners in the area, such as JG Boswell Co., pump groundwater to irrigate tomatoes, cotton, pistachios and other crops.
Ferens, a citrus grower, said agriculture generates about $2 billion in total revenue for Kings County each year and provides one in four jobs.
“Agriculture funds this county and this community. Without it, Kings County would quickly become a ghost town,” Ference said. “What’s at risk is our ability to pump groundwater. Without that, we lose our entire foundation.
He said growers agreed changes needed to be made to achieve sustainability and meet groundwater law requirements.
“But when we make these changes, we can’t do it not only to the detriment of the agricultural industry, but also to the community,” Ference said.
The Kings County Farm Bureau is asking Superior Court Judge Kathy Ciuffini to issue a preliminary injunction halting state intervention while the case is pending.
Ference said the state water board’s approach was “arbitrary and capricious.”
“They arbitrarily pushed the compliance date from 2040 to today,” he said. “We didn’t have a chance to implement the plan or even see if it was going to work.”
He said the state’s plan to impose a pumping fee of $300 per well and $20 per acre-foot pumped was too costly and would be used to “fund a police force with absolute powers.”
Instead, he said, the funds would be better spent building local infrastructure to help recharge aquifers.
“SGMA is designed for local control, and that’s where it needs to stay,” Ference said.
The outline of a farm well’s standpipe and water pump are visible at sunset near the community of Sultana in Tulare County.
(Irrfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
He said the state water board should “let the process go smoothly and give us time to implement the plan.”
Others think the state water board was right to put the area on probation.
“Local people have spent years trying to get their groundwater management plans right,” said Nataly Escobedo Garcia, water policy coordinator at Leadership Advisors for Justice and Accountability.
Escobedo Garcia said the lawsuit is concerning because it could hinder efforts to find a solution.
“I think unfortunately it does have the potential to slow down a lot of the progress that we’ve made as a state,” she said.
Researchers have warned that plans drawn up by local agencies will see water levels drop significantly between now and 2040, which could lead to thousands of wells There is a risk of drying out.
Scientists also discovered Crops’ growing demand for water Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing aquifer water levels to drop.
“Our aquifers are still severely overdrawn. While 2040 does sound far away, there is still a lot of work to be done to restore the aquifers,” Escobedo Garcia said.
She said further delays could jeopardize the region’s ability to become truly sustainable by 2040, as required by law.
