Greater Kaweah GSA sets Allocations

At the Greater Kaweah GSA’s September 27th Special Board meeting the Board went into its typical closed session to discuss any important decisions. After nearly 2 hours, open session was called and due to some technical mix ups several folks that normally try to attend via zoom were unable to connect. In the meantime Agenda Item 9A  - 2023 Water Year Allocations were announced moved seconded and approved. 

• Sustainable Yield Allocation - 0.83 acre-feet/acre

• Tier 1 Penalty Allocation - 0.83 acre- feet/acre

• Tier 2 Penalty Allocation - 1.04 acre-feet/acre

These amounts total 2.70 acre feet per acre, 0.05 less that what had been previously discussed and what had been posted to the Water Dashboard. Aaron Fukuda, manager of Tulare Irrigation District and Mid Kaweah GSA, protested the methodology of setting the Pumping Cap at 2.7 AF/Acre at last Fridays TAC meeting. What he failed to mention was that Mid Kaweah GSA has set their emergency Pumping Cap at 2.5 AF/Acre, but you may purchase another 1 AF/Acre mitigation tier for a total of 3.5 AF/Acre.

Next Item was Item 9b to adopt a Resolution setting rates for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 penalty allocations. With little discussion it was moved seconded and passed to set the rates as follows:

• Tier 1 Penalty Rate - $125 per Acre Foot

• Tier 2 Penalty Rate - $250 per Acre Foot

• Tier 3 Penalty Rate - $500 per Acre Foot + loss of following year allocation

These rates came as a bit of a surprise, as throughout all of the previous presentations and even on the dashboard they had been labeled as Tier 1 - $75, and Tier 2 - $125.  By the time all of this was said and done along with a minor rules and regulations amendment open session lasted a total of 12 minutes. Meeting Adjourned. 

What this means to your Farm Now

We have combined the allocations, rates, and rules and regs into a table format to better understand how this plays out on your farm. The meter starts on these allocations October 1, 2022. It would be wise to have meters properly installed on your wells by qualified personnel so you can track your groundwater use. Without this it will be nearly impossible to challenge any data coming from the GSA regarding your groundwater use that may be incorrect. Take pictures of your meter monthly and keep good records of your water use. 

How this will affect your operations in the Future

The last column shows the amount of allowable groundwater pumping in Greater Kaweah GSA in future years based on the current adopted Rules and Regulations and Allocations. If you are operating in a portion of the Greater Kaweah GSA without any supplemental surface water your total available water for irrigation of your crops will be reduced to the Sustainable Yield of 0.83 AF/Acre.

Rainfall - the Big Question Mark

Greater Kaweah GSA has to date refused to add rainfall to the rules and regulations as a source of water to be added to your available allocations. Although rainfall is currently shown as a water source on the water dashboard there has been no formal action taken by the board that gives you the rainfall credit. I have had several conversations with staff and members of the technical committee regarding this and still have no clear direction on how this will be resolved. There is 0.2 AF/Acre of rainfall included in the Native Yield calculation of 0.83 AF/Acre according to the Water Allocation Framework. This equates to about 2.4” of rain. In contrast East Kaweah GSA has in their draft Rules and Regulations that are set to be adopted tomorrow 92% of Effective precipitation will be credited against the ET use.

Give me a call if you have any questions regarding the water allocations and how they apply to you.

Johnny Gailey - 559-906-6229