From: Steven Teglia – General Manager – Kern Delta Water District
RE: July 26, 2024 Letter From State Water Resources Control Board
Recently, during the last week of July, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) sent out approximately 1,800 letters (see attached example) to property owners in the Kern Subbasin who are known to the SWRCB to own a well which extracts groundwater from the Kern Subbasin. The letter’s purpose was to inform well owners of a scheduled SWRCB public hearing (February 20, 2025) to determine if the Kern Subbasin will be designated as a probationary basin under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Included with the letter was additional information providing links to a Draft Staff Report authored by SWRCB staff. This report serves as the basis for a SWRCB staff recommendation that the Kern Subbasin be designated as a probationary basin by the SWRCB as part of the February 20, 2025 hearing. In addition to the February 20, 2025 public hearing, the SWRCB will also be holding two public workshops (August 26, 2024 – Virtual and August 29, 2024 – In-Person) to discuss the SWRCB Draft Staff Report and to collect public comment. It is anticipated that several, if not all the SWRCB members will be present during the workshops.
Kern Delta Water District lands are included in the Kern River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (KRGSA), which is one of twenty Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) that cover the entire Kern Subbasin under SGMA. The KRGSA has been coordinating with all GSAs in the Kern Subbasin to fully revise the 2020 and 2022 Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) which were deemed incomplete and inadequate by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in early 2023.
These efforts over the last year have resulted in the development of new, completely revised, and coordinated GSPs submitted to the SWRCB on May 29, 2024.
Unfortunately, the SWRCB Draft Staff Report is almost entirely based on the outdated 2020/2022 Kern Subbasin GSPs. Kern Subbasin GSAs expected the SWRCB staff to take adequate time to fully evaluate and understand the 2024 GSPs before issuing a draft staff report on the Kern Subbasin. Unfortunately, that appears not to be the case.
All Kern Subbasin GSAs are actively working to communicate with the SWRCB to explain how the new Kern Subbasin 2024 GSPs address previous plan deficiencies identified by DWR and are compliant with SGMA statute requirements. The Kern Subbasin will continue to work over the next several months to collaborate with SWRCB staff and Board members to impact the current probationary recommendation and avoid probationary status for the entire Kern Subbasin.
More information will follow as the Subbasin continues its dialogue with SWRCB. If you have any questions, or if you would like to learn more regarding the current situation, please feel free to contact me directly at the District Office 661-834-4656 or by email at steven@kerndelta.org
Below are several links that provide important reference information:
July 26, 2024 SWRCB SGMA Letter – Can be read directly here.
SWRBC Kern Subbasin website – Kern County Subbasin | California State Water Resources Control Board This page includes all relevant notices and reports from the SWRCB regarding the Kern Subbasin.
Kern River GSA website – www.kernrivergsa.org This page will provide specific information regarding the Kern River GSA including the 2024 revised GSP.
Kern Subbasin Data Management System website – Kern Subbasin SGMA DMS (geiconsultants.com) This page provides data for the entire Kern Subbasin, including the updated 2024 GSPs. (Note select “view data as guest” on the first page. You will be taken to a GIS mapping page with a menu of options on the left-hand side of the page. From there you can select “Groundwater Sustainability Plans” among other options.)