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State Water Board adopts Tulare Lake minimal‑impact exclusion with added export limits
Summary
The board unanimously approved a staff resolution excluding small extractors (≤20 acre‑feet/year) from reporting and fees in the Tulare Lake subbasin, amending the draft to add language restricting eligibility for users who export groundwater outside the subbasin and requiring future data‑driven review.
The State Water Board unanimously adopted an amended staff resolution on March 2 to establish a minimal‑impact exclusion in the Tulare Lake subbasin. Staff presented basin statistics (roughly 535,800 acres; 2022 extraction ~549,000 acre‑feet versus a sustainable yield of ~299,000 acre‑feet) and said an exclusion for extractors pumping 20 acre‑feet/year or less would leave the vast majority of basin pumping subject to reporting and fees.
Public commenters and local officials emphasized two recurring themes: the disproportionate burden reporting and fees pose for small, often linguistically isolated farmers, and concerns that exclusions could hamper regional coordination or permit export of groundwater beyond the subbasin. Several county supervisors and GSA representatives requested added resolution language limiting exclusions to extractors who do not export groundwater outside the basin.
Staff proposed two amendments in response: (1) add a clause noting stakeholder concerns about groundwater export; and (2) amend the resolved language to limit the exclusion to extractors who pump no more than 20 acre‑feet per year and do not export groundwater outside the subbasin. The board approved the amended resolution by unanimous roll call and directed staff to provide notice under open‑meeting rules before any future expansion of exclusions and to rescind exemptions if subsequent data indicate undue impacts.
