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Okieville water recharge project a “poster child” of partnership to protect residential water

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
More than 40 engineers, landowners, water officials and drinking water advocates gathered along the banks of a full, flowing canal in Tulare County Thursday to inaugurate the Okieville Recharge Basin. But the first order of business on the hot summer day was snow cones.  The 21-acre project is a “poster child” of partnership that will…
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Counting groundwater: The devil is in the details

• by Lois Henry
A lengthy complaint alleging secretive, self-dealing on the part of a prominent farmer and board member on a key Tulare County groundwater agency slogged through a Fair Political Practices Commission investigation over the past four years resulting in, essentially, a slap on the wrist late last month. Eric L. Borba, former chair of the Eastern…
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Kings County farmers frustrated with water district’s latest move worry it will hasten state pumping takeover

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Ignoring a letter signed by more than 200 landowners that requested their resignation, the Kings County Water District board of directors not only kept their seats but voted unanimously to remove the district from the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency within 60 days. That throws another curveball into an already confusing situation in the Tulare…
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MEETING NOTES: North Kern concerned the subbasin’s revamped groundwater plan – now seven plans – won’t pass muster with the state

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water
Meeting: North Kern Water Storage District board of directors. Date: May 22, 2024 Agenda and board packet: CLICK HERE Main topic: Submission of a revamped groundwater sustainability plan for the Kern subbasin to the state Water Resources Control Board to avoid probation. Background: Two previous groundwater plans for the Kern subbasin were rejected by the…
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Kern agencies prepare to submit third groundwater plan in hopes it’s the charm that wards off state pumping takeover

• by Lois Henry
In an effort to avoid the fate of their neighbors to the north, Kern County water managers are putting the finishing touches on a new groundwater plan they hope will stave off probation in order to keep state bureaucrats from taking over local pumping. The county’s 20 groundwater agency boards began approving final changes to…
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Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Groundwater relations in the Kaweah subbasin in Tulare County have gone from bad to worse. Fingers have been pointed, ultimatums laid down and patience has run out.  At its Sept. 26 meeting, the Greater Kaweah GSA board accepted a recommendation to allocate 1.87 acre feet of groundwater per acre to its farmers for the 2023-24…
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Regs relaxed for storing flood water

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Governor Gavin Newsom is hoping to see the deluge from the ongoing storms socked away for dry times by making it easier to recharge underground aquifers.  The governor issued an executive order Friday suspending some regulatory requirements to divert flood water for groundwater recharge. The hope is to recharge as much water as possible since…
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State water agency wades into lawsuit to maintain its authority over groundwater plans

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern
A lawsuit over groundwater plans in the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley is being closely watched as it could have implications for how the state’s groundwater mandate moves forward, according to a recent briefing on the issue at the Kern Groundwater Authority. At the Nov. 16 meeting, authority attorney Valerie Kincaid explained that…
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