Groundwater Allocation

Please note: The Greater Kaweah GSA initially used the term Pumping Cap in outreach materials to describe what is now referred to as the Groundwater Allocation in the final Rules & Regulations. Any materials created and distributed after the August 15^th adoption of the final Rules & Regulations will use the term Groundwater Allocation instead of Pumping Cap.

The Greater Kaweah GSA leadership is committed to open and transparent communications. Landowner involvement in workshops, webinars, committee and board meetings, Q&A sessions, and extended public comment and review periods played an important role in the development of the Greater Kaweah GSA Groundwater Allocation.

The first draft of the Rules and Regulations outlining a proposed groundwater allocation was posted on the Greater Kaweah GSA website on December 15, 2021.

The Greater Kaweah GSA Board conducted three initial public events to provide landowners an opportunity to learn about the proposed groundwater allocation policy and ask questions. These events were promoted through email updates, mailers, postcards, and website postings. Webinar recordings and presentation slides are available at the bottom of this webpage.

The Greater Kaweah GSA also invited the public to submit comments on the original Rules and Regulations document which included a draft groundwater allocation proposal. The public review and comment deadline was initially scheduled to end on April 26, 2022, but the Greater Kaweah GSA extended the deadline through May 12, 2022 to give landowners ample time to provide comments. After reviewing all public comments and revising the Rules and Regulations based on public comments received to that point, the Greater Kaweah GSA recirculated a revised Rules and Regulations document and extending the public review and comment period for the second time through August 5, 2022.

A final Rules & Regulations document was adopted by the Board on August 15, 2022 and posted to the website here on this page. The Groundwater Allocation as outlined in the Rules & Regulations will go into effect in the Greater Kaweah GSA on October 1, 2022.

The Greater Kaweah GSA adopted final Rules & Regulations outlining a groundwater allocation program beginning on October 1, 2022.

The Greater Kaweah GSA’s First Final Rules and Regulations document outlines a draft groundwater allocation proposal.

READ MORE

The groundwater allocation program will change the way landowners manage the use of their groundwater supply by allocating an amount of groundwater that can be used over a period of time. The Greater Kaweah GSA Board’s goal was to develop a program that provides for equality and flexibility of all landowners in the Greater Kaweah GSA service area.

Graphic: DRAFT Groundwater Pumping Cap Proposal. All Gross Acreage Groundwater Users in GKGSA (Total pumping cap and Temporary Tier volumes not yet defined)

Due to an oversubscribed dependence on groundwater in the Kaweah Subbasin, long-term analysis shows groundwater levels declining over the past 20 years and earlier. For the years 1997 to 2017, the region has experienced average groundwater declines in the range of 100 feet. The Kaweah Subbasin is currently estimated to have an annual average overdraft of approximately 80,000 acre-feet per year (an acre foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons of enough water to cover a football field 1-foot deep).

Due to the last two severely dry years, groundwater pumping has persisted and much more has been pumped from the aquifer than was replaced. This increased pumping has created a larger shortfall in groundwater levels than anticipated in the Greater Kaweah’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan adopted in January 2020. Although the Plan calls for a gradual reduction of the overdraft, pumping over the last two years requires more immediate actions to be taken through demand-side management if the short and long-term goals as submitted to the State are to be met. Compliance with SGMA is not optional and is best accomplished without State intervention.

The Greater Kaweah GSA has partnered with the East and Mid-Kaweah GSAs to develop the Kaweah Water Dashboard, a tool that empowers landowners to strategically respond to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Create your Water Dashboard user account here.

Water Dashboard Overview
Landowners who create an account on the Water Dashboard will be able to visualize and understand their evapotranspiration (ET) data at the field level in the context of their farming operations and groundwater pumping. This is the same data the Greater Kaweah GSA will use to track new groundwater allocations going into effect beginning October 1, 2022. The Water Dashboard will also allow landowners to identify and report back any issues with the data and information the Greater Kaweah GSA is using (i.e., a parcel boundary change, a discrepancy in assessed acreage, incorrect crop information) to ensure transparent and accurate groundwater allocation accounting.

The Kaweah Subbasin has contracted with Land IQ to collect monthly evapotranspiration (ET) data at the field level. This data will inform the Greater Kaweah GSAs implementation of new pumping caps. Land IQ’s ET is a data-driven model developed for detailed, field-scale water use estimation. Water use estimation is calculated as ET, or the amount of water consumed by the plant through evaporation and transpiration. Using ET tells us the amount of water consumed by the crop, rather than just the total water applied.

Landowners and growers can view this monthly ET data for their fields using the Kaweah Water Dashboard, scheduled for release in July 2022. Landowners can request early access and create an account in mid-June by signing up here.

Learn more about Land IQ

Kaweah Subbasin Land IQ Webinar, March 17, 2022

Webinar Slides
LandIQ FAQs