Mid Kings River GSA approves well registration, measurement and recharge policies; staff to implement database and begin data collection

The Mid Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency on May 13 approved three initial policies to support a revised Groundwater Sustainability Plan: a well registration policy, a groundwater pumping measurement policy and a private groundwater recharge policy.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the three policies after a presentation from the stakeholder advisory committee and the GSA’s engineering consultant. “The wells need to be registered by April of 2026,” Amir Hussain, engineering consultant with Josintech, said while describing the registration timeline and the need to locate domestic and production wells across the GSA.

The policies are intended to build the data and crediting systems the GSA will use as it moves toward allocations and subsidence management, officials said. The registration policy requires owners to register wells with the GSA (no registration fee), the measurement policy establishes allowed methods for reporting pumping, and the recharge policy creates a framework for giving credits to parties that put water into the basin.

Why this matters: the GSA must document where and how much groundwater is pumped in order to manage declines and subsidence and to comply with Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) reporting requirements. Board members and members of the stakeholder committee said the policies are early-stage steps to build a usable database and measurement program before the GSA develops allocations or a subsidence management plan.

Key approvals and actions - Well registration policy: the board approved a registration requirement covering all wells in the GSA area, with domestic wells included and no registration fee. The board voted 4-0 to approve the policy (moved by Supervisor Rusty Robinson; second by Supervisor Richard Vallee). - Groundwater pumping measurement policy: the board approved a measurement policy that allows either flow meters or remote-sensing evapotranspiration (ET) methods; it requires meters for industrial wells and public water systems and exempts wells pumping less than 2 acre-feet annually (state de minimis threshold). The board voted 4-0 to approve the policy (moved by Supervisor Joe Neves; second by Supervisor Rusty Robinson). - Private groundwater recharge policy: the board approved an initial recharge policy that creates a mechanism to credit recharge and to encourage recharge projects. Credits vary by method and site (see details below). The board voted 4-0 to approve the policy.

What the policies require and how they work - Well registration: owners must provide location and construction information; the GSA will develop a searchable database to accept registrations. If the GSA already has records for a well, staff will send a written notice and request the owner to register within 90 days. The consultant told the board the GSA is hiring a firm to develop the database and will use assessor records to help contact property owners.

- Measurement (metering) policy: the policy reframes an earlier “metering” proposal as a broader measurement policy to allow flexibility while building toward metering. Options allowed are: direct flow meters or calculation using remote-sensing ET data (the GSA has a contract for ET/LIDAR data). Industrial wells and public water systems must be metered. Wells pumping less than 2 acre-feet per year are exempt. The policy asks well owners to record meter readings monthly but to submit reports quarterly. The policy includes privacy language, an appeals process and an enforcement structure that begins with written notices and a 90-day cure period and contemplates escalating fines (the draft shows $500 and then $1,000; the policy text also references larger daily penalties in some enforcement steps). The board and the consultant noted the policy will be reviewed and adjusted during the proposed implementation period (through June 1, 2027, per the draft).

- Recharge credits: the initial recharge policy differentiates credits by method and location. Surface recharge to the first two aquifers above the Corcoran clay receives credits; engineered, dedicated recharge facilities can receive 90% of the credited volume, while application to fallowed or cropped land was described as yielding about 75% credit minus ET losses. Credits were described as on a five-year rolling basis (credits expire over a 5-year window). The policy sets restrictions on recharge locations (to avoid impacts to critical infrastructure or areas with recent pesticide/animal waste application) and requires registration of recharge sites. Treated water recharge requires prior GSA approval.

Funding, data and next steps - Database and data: the GSA will contract for a registration database and continue to receive ET data under a Land IQ contract; the consultant said Mid Kings has paid for ET data historically and that payment responsibilities will shift to the GSA through agreed county/city shares until a Prop 218 funding mechanism is approved. - Funding and implementation: staff said implementation will require personnel and financing (including a Prop 218 vote to create a fee structure). The board directed staff to proceed with implementation planning and data collection steps. - State coordination and legal context: the consultant said some state requests remain on hold because of ongoing litigation (identified in the meeting as the Kings County Farm Bureau lawsuit). The board and counsel said the GSA will coordinate with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Resources Control Board as permitted and as probationary status and communications allow.

Points of debate and context - Subsidence: several board members pressed for explicit subsidence language. Consultant Amir Hussain and staff said a separate, more detailed subsidence management plan is forthcoming and that the GSA will use the policies as tools that the subsidence plan can invoke or override where necessary. Board members emphasized that subsidence is already occurring in parts of the basin and that a management plan is essential. - Privacy and public records: landowners raised privacy concerns about sharing meter or ET-derived data. Counsel reminded the board that GSA records are public by default unless a specific legal exemption applies; the GSA can notify data holders if a third-party records request is received and there are statutory avenues for the holder to seek protective orders. - Fire response and noncropping uses: supervisors asked for an explicit way to account for nonirrigation uses (fire suppression, dust control, construction) so those episodic or emergency uses are not unintentionally treated as part of crop irrigation in allocations. Staff responded that the policies are intended to capture total pumping volumes and that future allocation and use-accounting work can include columns or categories to track noncrop uses separately.

Next meetings and implementation timeline The board and staff said measurement reporting will begin soon under the approved policy, with data collection ramping up as the registration database is built. The consultant and staff will return with further policy refinements, an allocation framework and a separate subsidence management item for board consideration. The board’s next regular meeting was announced for June 10, 2025.

Attributions: direct quotes and policy summaries in this report come from stakeholder advisory committee chair Garrett Gilcrease and engineering consultant Amir Hussain, and from roll-call and board discussion during the Mid Kings River GSA meeting on May 13, 2025.