California water regulators are cracking down on a second agricultural region in the San Joaquin Valley for not doing enough to stop excessive pumping that is depleting groundwater levels, sinking land and harming a canal that transports water for 1 million acres of farmland and more than 250,000 people.
The state Water Resources Control Board has voted unanimously to place the Tule Groundwater Sub-Basin on probationary status, a move that brings additional state oversight, new water fees and a requirement for most well owners to report how much they’re pumping.
“My feeling is that we are truly in a state of crisis,” board Vice President Doreen D’Adamo said after hearing hours of testimony from farmers, water managers, residents and advocates.
State officials cited flaws in local groundwater management plans, including a persistent drop in aquifer levels, which they estimate could put more than 550 domestic wells at risk of going dry during a drought.
He also said the plans do not adequately limit excessive pumping, which is causing land subsidence in parts of the region. D’Adamo said the damage caused by rapid land subsidence in parts of the Frint-Kern Canal is troubling and needs to be addressed.
Farms in the region rely on groundwater to irrigate hay, corn, grapes, almonds, pistachios, oranges and other crops. When large amounts of groundwater are extracted, layers of sediment and soil can collapse and the land surface can subside.
In one area of the Tule sub-basin west of Tipton, the ground has sunk more than seven feet since 2015, state officials said.
About 3.5 feet of land subsidence has been measured along parts of the Frint-Kern Canal since 2015. The 152-mile-long canal, built by the federal government in the 1940s and early ’50s, carries San Joaquin River water from the Frint Dam near Fresno to Bakersfield.
The Friant-Kern Canal is “experiencing an alarming amount of subsidence, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage,” said Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority, which operates and maintains the canal. The subsiding ground has significantly reduced the canal’s water-delivery capacity, and state, local and federal agencies are investing $326 million in the first phase. Project To repair a section of the canal.
Land subsidence caused by depletion of the aquifer has damaged the Friant–Kerne Canal.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Phillips supported the board’s action and specifically blamed one agency in the subbasin, the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency, for failing to adopt adequate plans to limit pumping and stabilize the ground. He said continued subsidence in the area now threatens to undermine recent repairs and investments, including $83 million in state taxpayer funds.
Federal officials urged the State Water Board to take steps to limit subsidence and protect the canal, which has lost an estimated 60% of its capacity in its central section.
U.S. Department of the Interior attorney David McCray said the repair project “has gone through years of planning, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and is having significant negative impacts because of improper groundwater management.” “Without concrete action to correct the subsidence, the Friant-Kern Canal — and more than 250,000 Californians and more than 1 million acres of agricultural land — will continue to be negatively impacted at significant cost.”
State officials Ground water schemes reviewed The report, prepared by seven local agencies, found that these plans failed to address a steady decline in groundwater levels, deteriorating water quality and other problems such as continued land subsidence. It estimated that current pumping in the area was depleting at least as much water each year as the combined use of half a million households, on average.
Rogelio Caudillo, general manager of the Eastern Tule Groundwater Agency, urged the state board to delay placing the area on probation. He said his agency has made progress on plans to limit pumping and correct subsidence, and is taking steps to protect drinking water wells.
But board member Laurel Firestone said the agency’s pumping limits “are not being enforced fast enough.”
“It sounds like you need a little more aggressive program,” he said.
At the end of an all-day meeting Tuesday, board members voted to intervene to enforce requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. The law, adopted in 2014, requires local agencies to act under the Groundwater Management Act. Develop plans to curb excessive pumpingIn many regions, agencies must achieve goals for sustainable management of groundwater by 2040.
Tule Subbasin It is one of six areas in the San Joaquin Valley where officials have deemed local plans inadequate, and the second to be placed on probation.
After the board has taken its decision First vote to intervene In April, in the neighboring Tulare Lake sub-basin, farmers filed suit in an attempt to overturn the decision, arguing that the state’s demands are unreasonable and harming the local economy. The case is ongoing in Kings County Superior Court State decision deferred and made it mandatory for producers to disclose how much water they are pumping.
In the Tule region, advocates for protecting drinking water in rural communities have backed state intervention, warning that inaction would harm low-income people of color, including many farm workers.
Natalie Escobedo Garcia, water policy coordinator for the group Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, said local agencies have been slow to address problems in their plans. “It’s still the frontline communities that really pay the price and bear the cost of continued overpumping.”
Those costs fall on residents not only when shallow domestic wells go dry, he and others said, but also when pollutant concentrations worsen because of declining water levels, or when land subsidence damages wells.
The Tule Region has an estimated population of 152,000 and includes the city of Porterville as well as communities such as Allensworth, Alpaugh, Ducor, East Porterville, and Pixley.
Some Pixley residents told the board they are struggling with deteriorating water quality and rising water bills, which they say is linked to declining aquifer levels.
“Our water has gotten really bad. It comes out brown. It comes out dirty. There’s no pressure,” said Christina Velasquez, a resident who said her family has been buying bottled water and no longer drinks the tap water but still has to pay the higher rates.
Escobedo Garcia said one reason for the recent increase in rates is that a landslide caused the well casing to collapse, requiring costly repairs.
Beverly Whitfield said the high water bills are a financial burden, and she attributed it to the large volumes of water drawn down by nearby dairies and other farms.
“Our wells have collapsed. It’s due to overuse,” Whitfield said. “I think we deserve better than that.”
recent drinking water sampling A large number of wells in the Tule area have been found to contain pollutants such as arsenic, nitrates, and the carcinogenic chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane at levels well above safe limits.
The law requires local agencies to avoid “significant and unreasonable deterioration in water quality.” State Water Board staff have classified further deterioration in water quality into the following categories: Shortcomings in local plansand suggest steps to resolve the problems.
Managers of Tule’s local agencies recently submitted revised plans. Board staff said an initial review found some issues had been resolved, but significant problems remain, particularly related to the land’s continued subsidence.
Now that the area is on probation, most well owners will have to record how much water they pump for 90 days, and they will later have to report this data to the state.
Many well owners will be required to pay state fees beginning in 2026, including a flat fee of $300 per well, plus a fee of $20 per acre-foot of water pumped.
The State Water Board determined that two local agencies, the Delano Earlimart Irrigation District and the Kern-Tulare Water District, were adequately managing groundwater in their portions of the sub-basin, and exempted them from fees and mandatory reporting of data.
Board staff say they will continue to work closely with local agencies to resolve problems and eliminate interference. But if agencies fail to correct deficiencies within a year, the board can take steps to intervene, including pumping restrictions and fines for exceeding limits.
Many farmers said they were worried that state intervention would make their business even more difficult, at a time when they are already struggling financially. low crop prices and declining land values.
“The banks are refusing to lend money,” said Nick Sahota, a farmer from Terra Bella, who said he was also speaking on behalf of other farmers. “We are losing our farms.”
Jim Morehead said he has learned to deal with tough times in more than five decades of farming, but not challenges like the ones ahead.
“Now, for the first time, I don’t see any future for a family farm in the San Joaquin Valley,” Morehead said. “With the implementation of SGMA, the value of my land has plummeted. Since the water policy change five years ago, the value of my land has dropped by 70%.”
He said he has had to stop production from one-third of his family’s farmland, and will have to reduce production further, forcing him to lay off workers.
“I’m not against water regulation, but when I look at other states’ processes compared to California, I think their farmers are given far more support to be successful,” Morehead said.
Morehead’s son Justin said he fears that without local farms, his community of Pixley would struggle.
“Water is the currency of the San Joaquin Valley. The SGMA process is more than just water policy. It’s an economic framework that will determine whether rural communities will be viable over the long term,” said Justin Morehead.
He said groundwater legislation was pushing changes “at a rapid pace” without considering the impacts on communities.
“What is the future for communities like my hometown of Pixley?” he asked.
