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Grower Advisory Committee – Thursday, March 13 9:00 AM – Lemoore City Council Chambers

Regular Board Meeting – Thursday, March 20th 5:30 PM – Lemoore City Council Chambers

Well Registration Workshop – Wednesday March 26 10:00 AM – West Hills College Lemoore

Workshop Flyer ———— Workshop Map ———— Letter from SFKGSA

All meetings are open to the public, and input from stakeholders is welcomed as groundwater management policies continue to be developed.

The public is strongly encouraged to attend and provide input!

Presentation Slides from Feb 26 Grower Committee

Regular Board Meeting – Thursday, February 20th 5:30 PM – Lemoore City Council Chambers

Grower Advisory Committee – Wednesday, February 26 9:00 AM – Lemoore City Council Chambers

Well Registration Workshop – Wednesday February 26 4:00 PM – West Hills College Lemoore

All meetings are open to the public, and input from stakeholders is welcomed as groundwater management policies continue to be developed.

The public is strongly encouraged to attend and provide input!

Presentation Slides from Feb 6 Grower Committee

Meeting to be held at the Lemoore City Council Chambers, 429 C Street, Lemoore, CA 93245

The Grower Advisory Committee had a first look on January 9th at the Groundwater Extraction and Allocations Draft Policy. This sparked significant discussion and concerns. Due to the critical nature of this policy to the groundwater users within the SFKGSA the committee decided to hold a second January meeting and start 1 hour earlier at 9:00 AM.

1-30-2025 AGENDA

In addition to the extraction and allocation policy, the meeting will also cover the SFKGSA’s Recharge Policy and public comments received.

These meetings are open to the public, and all input from stakeholders is welcome as these crucial policies are developed.

The public is strongly encouraged to attend and provide input!

Presentation Slides from Jan 9 Grower Committee

These are the Slides that were presented at the October 24th Grower Committee.

Grower Committee Presentation on Allocations and Management Triggers

These slides are for discussion purposes only as these policies are in development.

The South Fork Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency’s Board of Directors is now hiring for the position of General Manager. Details on the position, responsibilities, qualifications, and how to apply.

The South Fork Kings GSA (SFKGSA), together with the four other GSAs in the Tulare Lake Subbasin, submitted the second Annual Report to the CA Department of Water Resources (DWR) by the April 1, 2021 deadline.  Dryer conditions in water year 2020 (Sept 2019 – Oct 2020) strained groundwater supplies across the Tulare Lake Subbasin, evidence that cooperation among groundwater users and strategic surface supply management will be critical to achieving sustainability by 2040.

The Annual Report includes an overview of groundwater conditions in the region including groundwater extraction, surface water supply available for groundwater recharge, total water use, change in groundwater storage, and a description of progress made toward implementing the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) since the last Annual Report.

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to submit annual reports to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) on April 1 of every year.

The Tulare Lake Subbasin extracted 100,000 acre-feet (AF) less than the prior water year, but due to dryer conditions during Water Year 2020, the Subbasin also saw an overall decrease of 25,706 AF in groundwater storage as observed in this year’s Annual Report.  As we review the Annual Report and consider its implications as we enter another dry water year, SFKGSA will continue to implement innovative projects that will lead to a sustainable, resilient, and steadfast supply of groundwater for the region.

Here are a few SFKGSA highlights from the Tulare Lake Subbasin’s 2020 Annual Report:

SFKGSA participated in discussions with the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint to increase water supplies to the area.

Based on several wells being destroyed or inaccessible, SFKGSA worked with local landowners to modify the groundwater monitoring network. Access agreements were obtained for the modified network to ensure its long-term availability.

SFKGSA applied for and was awarded a grant from the California Resilience Challenge to implement an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Pilot Test. Click HERE to learn more about this supply enhancement program and the progress made thus far.

SFKGSA participated in coordination meetings between the Kaweah and Tulare Lake Subbasins. The purpose of the meetings was to identify issues, discuss boundary conditions, and share data across the region. These meetings are expected to continue to help provide common solutions to regional issues. SFKGSA will continue to engage with neighboring subbasins and GSAs to promote inter-basin coordination.

Click HERE to read full Annual Report.

To receive updates on these projects and more, groundwater conditions, and other ways to get involved with the work SFKGSA is doing, sign up for our E-Updates and visit our website at southforkkings.org.

The South Fork Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SFKGSA) along with their technical consultant, Geosyntec Consultants and Kings River Conservation District, successfully obtained a $200,000 grant to support groundwater sustainability activities. Located in a region with variable water supply and susceptible to drought, the California Resilience Challenge grant awarded by the Bay Area Council Foundation will support SFKGSA’s groundwater sustainability by funding an Aquifer Storage and Recovery pilot program and a crucial data collection effort.

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) is an innovative groundwater management method used in many parts of the United States to inject water for underground storage to be withdrawn later when surface water is limited, especially during periods of drought.

ASR is ideal for areas where conditions are not ideally suited for putting water back into the ground using recharge basins. Much of the land within the SFKGSA features dense soil types and clay layers making percolation to deeper groundwater zones inefficient. The work associated with the grant will evaluate the feasibility of ASR in the SFKGSA and determine if it is viable to scale with landowners on-farm.

The SFKGSA’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan, a roadmap to sustainable groundwater management, includes ASR as a high priority among the portfolio of projects to bring groundwater supplies into balance. The grant funding will allow the South Fork Kings GSA to conduct a pilot test of ASR and accelerate implementation of this supply-side solution to support groundwater recovery.

In addition to the ASR pilot program, landowner and community outreach will be used to obtain data on groundwater use and irrigation practices. To kick off work on the grant, a survey will be sent to all SFKGSA landowners and community residents in the coming months. The survey will assist in filling in crucial information for a more accurate picture of groundwater use.

The California Resilience Challenge grant is a statewide effort led by businesses, utilities, and a diverse range of partners, to build local and regional climate resilience and to support a shared vision for a resilient California in the face of climate threats, like drought. The South Fork Kings GSA is among twelve diverse, replicable, and innovative climate change adaptation projects across California to receive a grant. To view the other winning projects, click here.