Board approves new Tulare East Groundwater Sustainability Agency joint-powers agreement

VISALIA — The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on July 22 approved a joint-powers agreement to form a new groundwater sustainability agency covering the eastern portion of the Tule Subbasin. The board also named Supervisor Dennis Townsend as the JPA director and approved an alternate appointment.

Resource Management Agency staff told the board the proposed Tulare East Groundwater Sustainability Agency (TEGSA) would include the Hope Water District and DuCor Water District alongside the county. Staff described the action as an agreement step: after the JPA is approved the new governing board must be seated and additional actions taken to formalize the entity as a GSA under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Staff said the change follows a period in which several public agencies that had been part of the Eastern Tule GSA left the original JPA to form their own GSAs under a “good actor” provision. The Hope and DuCor districts — once paper districts — reconstituted their boards to participate in groundwater governance and have approached the county to form a new GSA covering the remaining white-area lands.

Supervisor Townsend, who will serve as the board’s representative, thanked staff — including Denise England and consultants — and lawmakers for helping to assemble the agreement. During discussion board members asked whether prior technical work and expensive studies done for the Eastern Tule GSA would be usable by the new agency; staff replied the water accounting framework and groundwater sustainability plan work can be reused but some duplication will be needed to isolate the new jurisdictional area and to join the required coordination agreements.

Actions and vote - Motion to approve the Tulare East Groundwater Sustainability Agency Joint-Powers Agreement, appoint Supervisor Dennis Townsend as director and appoint an alternate (motion moved and seconded; vote recorded 4–0; Supervisor Shucklin not voting/not present). The board designated Supervisor Townsend as director and approved an alternate (Supervisor Makari was nominated as alternate).

Why it matters The new JPA is intended to give local water districts and county landowners a governing structure to implement SGMA and manage groundwater sustainably in the eastern portion of the Tule Subbasin. Staff said the move is intended to protect white-area growers and to enable local assessments and projects, though some previously funded planning work will need administrative updates to fit the new GSA boundaries.

Speakers and sources cited in this article are those appearing in the meeting record.