State Water Board adopts resolution to return Kern County Subbasin to DWR oversight, sets verification caveats

The State Water Resources Control Board on Sept. 17 adopted a resolution forwarding the Kern County Subbasin’s 2025 Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) back to the Department of Water Resources for continued oversight, after concluding that most state‑identified deficiencies had been addressed but that three remaining priority items must be confirmed in the final adopted plans.

Board staff told the panel earlier in the day that the GSP submissions and follow‑up revisions appear to resolve most deficiencies identified after DWR’s March 2023 inadequate determination. ‘‘The staff recommended returning the subbasin to DWR’s oversight pursuant to Water Code section 1073 3.4,’’ staff said in their presentation, while noting three conditions that must be confirmed in the final adopted GSPs.

Those conditions are: (1) an adequate mitigation program for drinking‑water wells impacted by any constituent for which a minimum threshold is established in the GSPs, including 1,2,3‑TCP, when the Board’s review finds that groundwater management activities caused concentrations to exceed the thresholds; (2) an adequate mitigation program for state small water system wells or domestic wells with more than four service connections; and (3) elimination of a May 2026 sunset provision from the non‑districted land authority joint powers agreement that could otherwise leave areas unmanaged.

During deliberations, Board members praised the ‘‘substantial improvements’’ documented by staff and the basin’s GSAs, but several noted that returning the basin to DWR is not the end of oversight. Board member Laurel Firestone urged continued vigilance on water‑quality protection and early intervention to prevent exceedances from becoming public‑health crises. Vice Chair Nicole Morgan said the goal was to avoid repeatedly cycling plans back to the State Board and to give the local agencies a durable path to implementation.

A motion to adopt the resolution, including late staff revisions to the draft language in paragraph 29, passed on a unanimous roll‑call vote. The clerk recorded yes votes from Board member Morgan, Vice Chair D’Adamo, Board member Firestone, Board member McGuire and Chair Joaquin Esquivel. The Board directed staff to review the GSAs’ final adopted 2025 plans and confirm that they are consistent with the draft versions presented and that the three priority items are fully addressed before the formal referral to DWR is finalized.

Board staff said they will review the final adopted documents and, assuming the conditions are met, send a formal letter to DWR restarting the agency’s oversight role. The Board also emphasized that monitoring, notification, and mitigation programs will remain essential during implementation and that the State Board will continue to receive updates as the GSAs implement projects and management actions.

The vote concluded a day of technical presentations by Board staff and members of the Kern County GSAs, detailed public testimony from residents and advocates about drinking‑water harms, and panel comments from municipal water providers and conservation groups. The resolution is posted in the meeting record; Board staff said the hearing record includes a draft resolution and that the changes introduced at the meeting were read into the record.

The Board’s action does not immediately impose new fees or penalties on pumpers but signals a handoff to the department charged with day‑to‑day technical oversight; staff stressed it will verify the final plan language and implementation commitments before completing the referral.