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Board returns Kaweah Subbasin to DWR after GSAs address key SGMA deficiencies
Summary
After a multi‑year intervention and revised 2024 Groundwater Sustainability Plans, the board unanimously voted to return the Kaweah Subbasin to Department of Water Resources jurisdiction, while listing follow‑up recommendations on monitoring, subsidence, groundwater quality, and mitigation.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously on Dec. 2 to return the Kaweah Subbasin to the Department of Water Resources’ jurisdiction under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), concluding a period of state intervention that began after DWR found the 2022 GSPs inadequate.
Board staff led by Natalie Stork and Brianna Saint Pierre reviewed the history: DWR’s March 2023 determination initiated intervention; the three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (East, Mid, and Greater Kaweah GSAs) revised and adopted updated GSPs and a coordination agreement in 2024. Board staff’s October 2024 assessment found most previously identified deficiencies related to chronic groundwater-level declines, land subsidence, groundwater quality and interconnected surface water to be resolved or substantially resolved. One interconnected surface‑water deficiency was characterized as partially resolved pending additional modeling and monitoring.
Staff and commenters emphasized the GSAs’ strengthened mitigation program (including dry‑well assistance and mitigation tracks for critical infrastructure), expanded groundwater‑quality monitoring networks, and subsidence modeling designed to protect the Friant‑Kern Canal. Local GSA representatives, community groups and technical experts urged approval and praised collaboration during the probationary process. Several commenters and board staff stressed that returning jurisdiction does not reduce implementation obligations: GSAs must continue to fill data gaps, revise thresholds as additional information becomes available, and implement mitigation to achieve sustainability by 2040.
The board adopted the draft resolution and will send the required notice to DWR. Board members and staff emphasized ongoing partnership, monitoring, outreach, and that implementation is the next critical phase.
