The Proposition 218 results were announced at the June 26th board meeting and public hearing, with 87% of votes received in favor of the assessment. The Board of Directors set a $6 per acre assessment rate for fiscal year 2024-2025.
The Board will set the rate annually, and plans to draw money from reserves to gradually increase the rate until it reaches the approved maximum of $18 per acre in 2027, as detailed in the approved Prop 218 budget. Landowners can expect to see the assessment as part of their county property taxes this fall. The assessment will be payable in December 2024 and April 2025.
The assessment will fund the implementation of the agency’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), which is essential for keeping the North Fork Kings GSA’s good standing with the State and maintaining local control over groundwater management.
Prop 218 assessments will fund:
Administrative costs: maintain administrative functions, covering expenses related to General Manager duties and future agency staff
Professional services: includes consultants and attorneys that provide a range of services needed for the agency’s operations in support of GSA activities
GSP implementation: expenses for implementing our GSP to meet State sustainability requirements
To learn more about the Prop 218 election and access resources including the approved budget, visit northforkkings.org/218election.
The North Fork Kings GSA will conduct a pilot this fall to study groundwater pumping allocations. The pilot will serve as a guide for the future implementation of groundwater allocations in the GSA, and will help the agency work through process and methodology with the input of its landowners. The pilot is a collaborative process between one of the surface water units and its landowners within the North Fork Kings GSA.
Landowners in the pilot will be able to use Watermark to manage their groundwater allocations. On Watermark, these landowners will access and simulate water accounting capabilities, and view information about their water use in relation to their groundwater allocation and surface water supplies, including how much groundwater has been used and how much is available.
An allocation will limit the amount of groundwater that can be pumped per acre over a period of time. Because increasing surface water supply and recharge alone is not enough to fully balance groundwater pumping demands, having allocations in place is an important tool in the GSA’s toolbox to balance groundwater levels and reach sustainability under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
The GSA is committed to providing landowners with transparent communication and will keep landowners engaged throughout the pilot. After the pilot, the agency will determine a path forward for widescale implementation of groundwater allocations using the Watermark tool.
The Board of Directors recognizes that an allocation will affect landowners’ groundwater use. A stakeholder-driven process will continue to be in place for the development of the Groundwater Allocation Program to give landowners the opportunity to participate in designing an allocation that offers the maximum flexibility possible while meeting sustainability requirements.
To stay updated on the Groundwater Allocation Program, get engaged with us by attending the Board and Committee meetings, and sign up for the email list at northforkkings.org.
As of July 1, 2024, well registration is required for all wells in the North Fork Kings GSA boundary – including domestic and agricultural wells. Inactive wells should still be registered. Registering wells is free until September 30, 2024. The Well Registration Program launched in January 2024 as a voluntary effort for landowners to get a head start registering their wells. Starting October 1, an initial registration fee of $100 per well will be charged.
Landowners are encouraged to register their wells before the September 30 deadline. Registering wells is the first step to ensure eligibility for future opportunities like grant-funded well meter installation and financial assistance for owners of domestic (drinking water) wells impacted by declining groundwater levels.
To register wells, landowners can use the new online tool, Watermark. Landowners who have not registered their wells should have received another mail package in early August. This package includes instructions on how to claim parcels using a unique verification code(s) and register wells using Watermark.
There will be several opportunities to receive in-person support throughout August and September, or you can request a virtual appointment with the North Fork Kings GSA Watermark support team. To schedule an appointment, landowners can call the GSA at (559) 632-7032, email help@northforkkings.org, or complete a digital request form available at northforkkings.org/watermark. Additional resources and more information about well registration are available at the same web address.
The Well Registration Program is one major component of addressing corrective actions the CA Department of Water Resources (DWR) included with our Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) approval. An approved GSP is needed for local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies like ours to keep local control over groundwater management.
Visit northforkkings.org/watermark to register your wells, RSVP for an event, schedule an appointment for one-on-one assistance, or learn more about well registration.
In January 2024, the North Fork Kings GSA fully launched a Well Registration Program for well owners using the online tool Watermark. Starting July 1, 2024, well registration will be required for all domestic and agricultural wells within the North Fork Kings GSA boundary. Registering a well(s) will be free until September 30. After October 1, an initial registration fee of $100 per well will be charged. The board will consider an escalating fee scale in 2025.
Landowners who register their wells before the deadline will be first in line for future grant opportunities to fund the installation of meters. North Fork Kings GSA is pursuing grants to offer to those who want to install meters to track their groundwater under a future allocation program.
Registration is also a prerequisite to receive any financial assistance for domestic drinking water wells impacted by groundwater level declines under the new Domestic Well Mitigation program, set to launch October 1.
Landowners have been encouraged to take prompt action and participate in well registration to keep local control of groundwater management. Up until July, the program has been voluntary for landowners, starting with an early launch in November 2023, followed by a complete launch to all landowners in January.
Throughout the launching process, the North Fork Kings GSA has provided direct support to landowners at customer support workshops held in February and March and through one-on-one virtual appointments in an effort to help landowners activate their Watermark accounts and register their wells. The agency will continue to provide this support to its landowners through its Watermark support team.
As of June 2024, 493 wells have been registered, and over 50% of North Fork Kings GSA’s total acreage has been enrolled in the Well Registration Program on Watermark. The Board of Directors determined at the June 26th Board Meeting that well registration must be mandatory to ensure enough participation to complete required groundwater studies.
The Well Registration Program is closely linked to a state-mandated groundwater study focused on the confined aquifer. This study will allow North Fork Kings GSA to better understand land subsidence and groundwater flows. The groundwater study must be completed by the fall of this year ahead of the 2025 Groundwater Sustainability Plan update and submittal to the State.
The North Fork Kings GSA strongly encourages well owners to register both agricultural and domestic (private drinking water) wells to avoid fees in October.
To register your wells today and find more information, visit northforkkings.org/watermark. For further assistance, landowners can contact the GSA at (559) 632-7032 or contact the Watermark support team by email at help@northforkkings.org or submit a Freshdesk support ticket within Watermark.
Following the June 26 North Fork Kings GSA board meeting and public hearing, the successful Proposition 218 election results were announced, with 87% of votes in support. Votes in the election were weighted by acreage, and 514 ballots were received. The Board of Directors set the assessment rate at $6.00 per acre for fiscal year 2024-2025.
The agency plans to escalate the rate each fiscal year until it reaches the approved maximum of $18 per acre in 2027, as detailed in the now-approved Prop 218 budget. Beginning this fall 2024, landowners will see the assessment as part of their county property taxes and will be payable in December 2024 and April 2025.
“We appreciate our landowners’ support on the Prop 218 and their trust in our GSA to continue managing our groundwater with local leadership,” said North Fork Kings GSA General Manager Justin Mendes. “This funding is a crucial part of maintaining our approval from the State and will enable us to continue striving for sustainability under local management.”
The assessment will help implement GSP activities and programs that are essential in keeping the North Fork Kings GSA’s good standing with the State. SGMA is an unfunded mandate, leaving it up to the local GSA to generate funding to meet its requirements.
Where will assessments be invested?
Administrative costs: this enables the agency to maintain administrative functions, covering expenses related to General Manager duties and future agency staff
Professional services: this includes consultants and attorneys that provide a variety of services needed for the agency’s operations in support of GSA activities for the General Manager
GSP implementation: this includes expenses for implementing its Groundwater Sustainability Plan to meet State sustainability requirements
Most immediately, the funding will help the GSA fund the required work to update its Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for resubmittal in January 2025. The North Fork Kings GSA received conditional approval on its GSP from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2023. The approval was conditional on the grounds that the GSA fix twelve corrective actions provided by DWR.
The North Fork Kings GSA, along with the six other Kings Subbasin GSAs, are working to address the corrective actions to keep State approval and avoid the risk of the probationary process. Passing the Prop 218 election was a critical step to achieve that goal.
The North Fork Kings GSA has been funded through land-based assessments since 2018. That year, the GSA passed a Prop 218 election with 94% of votes in support of the assessment. The previous election authorized the agency to assess up to a maximum of $10 per acre per year but had a five-year sunset concluding with fiscal year 2022-2023. Reserves were used to fund GSA activities in fiscal year 2023-2024. The North Fork Kings GSA is committed to the same financial stewardship it used for the duration of the previous Prop 218 assessment, and will set the rate annually to meet anticipated expenses while keeping assessments as low as possible for landowners.
With continued collaboration with landowners, the North Fork Kings GSA looks forward to operating as a local, stakeholder-driven agency. To learn more about the Prop 218 and for future updates, visit www.northforkkings.org/218election.
Read our Prop 218 Educational Handout and FAQs here.
North Fork Kings GSA encourages growers to contact their surface water district and take water.
The Army Corps of Engineers recently declared a low-level flood release at Pine Flat Dam to begin Saturday, May 4. This low-level flood release will allow Kings River service agencies to receive additional surface water for deliveries. The North Fork Kings GSA encourages landowners to contact their surface water provider to receive this additional water for irrigation and recharge. Landowners who take water for groundwater recharge will receive future groundwater extraction credits from the North Fork Kings GSA. Learn more about receiving credits for groundwater recharge here.
Landowners are urged to act now while flood release water is available.
The latest Annual Report data casts a promising light on the Kings Subbasin’s sustainability progress. Following a blitz of repeated storms resulting in the most historic snowpack the Kings River watershed has seen on record, the abundant surface water supply drove down groundwater use 56% compared to the previous water year, and down 63% compared to Water Year 2021.
Nearly 2 million acre-feet of surface water was used across the region, a quarter of which was sunk back into the underground aquifer by Kings Subbasin agencies through direct recharge efforts.
Thanks to the reduction in groundwater use and 500,000 acre-feet of groundwater recharge, the aquifer in the Kings Subbasin is estimated to have recovered 1.28 million acre-feet of groundwater storage.
“We needed the 2023 Water Year after three dry years. It helped us begin to dig ourselves out of the hole. Our groundwater storage loss was starting to add up,” stated Kassy Chauhan, North Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) Executive Director.
Kings Subbasin Water Year Type (2015-2023) Kings Subbasin Annual Report Table 2-1
CID’s Adams & Academy Recharge Basin. Thanks to special provision from the State, CID put up temporary berms at the site while still under construction in 2023 so the site could be used for flood control and recharge.
The recharge volumes can in major part be credited to agencies in the Kings Subbasin who put down pavement on the road toward sustainability through new project construction when the SGMA clock started in 2020, the year Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) were first submitted to the State marking the start of SGMA implementation.
Since 2020, 26 new recharge basin projects have been built on over 1,050 acres of land adding 25,500 acre-feet of new recharge capacity to park and sink surplus surface water.
“Water managers in the Kings Subbasin made things happen while the opportunity presented itself,” reflected Phil Desatoff, Central Kings GSA General Manager. “The Annual Report numbers show that it made a difference. In Consolidated Irrigation District we sank over 300,000 acre-feet thanks to sandy soils and favorable geology, and a high tide floats all boats. It helps the whole subbasin.”
Despite boots on the ground efforts to capitalize on nature’s bounty, the Kings Subbasin’s seven GSA managers know there is more work to be done to keep on track with 2040 sustainability targets. The recent dry years prompted high volumes of pumping to meet total water demands, and this latest wet year is not enough to make up the deficit.
While areas in the subbasin did see substantial groundwater level improvements, it is anticipated levels will continue to fluctuate over the course of SGMA implementation as hydrologic conditions continue to vacillate between dry and wet. This is planned for in the GSPs, but recovery versus overdraft over time needs to land on the trajectory toward sustainability goals.
“We need to stay ready to take advantage of any and all future recharge opportunities, in addition to deploying other management tools that will reduce reliance on groundwater if we are going to stay on track with the sustainability goals we have committed to in the GSPs,” stated Chauhan. “The commitment by individual districts to build projects and do recharge is essential. Ideally the individual water users are in the mix playing a role as well.”
Fresno Irrigation District (FID) just completed another recharge project adding nearly 50 acres to its portfolio of 900 existing acres and plans to develop another 400 acres into basins over the next several years. Even with all its planned recharge capacity, the North Kings GSA overlying FID sees the role of the individual landowner becoming increasingly important. As a member agency of the North Kings, FID is partnering to help educate growers on sustainable irrigation practices like keeping flood lines in tact to take extra surface water when available, but using drip when water is scarce.
Just to the south in the North Fork Kings GSA, growers are encouraged to take water during flood releases for on-farm recharge. The GSA has launched a well registration program on an online SGMA portal called Watermark, where landowners will be able to view and manage groundwater allocations in the future. Although not yet developed, allocations will come into play down the road to promote water use efficiency and reduce groundwater demand.
FID’s Kenneson & Sanchez Basin, completed March 2024, adds an estimated 960 acre-feet of annual recharge benefit.
With the 2040 long view in mind, the Kings Subbasin’s nearest goal is to maintain its GSP approval from the State. The GSAs remain focused on coordination to address the CA Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) 12 corrective actions by the 2025 GSP Update.
Groundwater studies on interconnected streams and the confined aquifer will be undertaken this year as part of addressing DWR’s concerns, in addition to launching a new program focused on mitigating the impacts of groundwater level decline on domestic well owners. The latter program involves a heavy administrative lift by the GSAs to coordinate and get it off the ground and running in the coming months.
The North Fork Kings GSA has updated their recharge project registration form for landowner-driven recharge operations in 2024. The 2024 form is now available online here.
Landowners who submitted forms in 2023 will need to submit again under the 2024 recharge project registration form to receive credit for any 2024 recharge.
The recharge project registration form benefits landowners within the North Fork Kings GSA who conduct intentional groundwater recharge using surface water in 2024 and wish to seek future groundwater extraction credits. Being aware of the recharge projects allows the North Fork Kings GSA to give proper credit to stakeholders performing recharge once policies governing groundwater credits are in place. While the GSA cannot issue recharge credits at this time, it will track the amount of water recharged using this form. The GSA will work with the appropriate surface water provider to determine the amount of recharge credit to be provided based on the recharge policy of the surface water provider.
The North Fork Kings GSA will use the registration form to recognize the efforts of landowners in recharging the groundwater. The GSA gives landowners freedom to operate their own groundwater recharge project operations in collaboration with their surface water provider. Landowners are encouraged to reach out to their irrigation district managers about maximizing surface water deliveries for groundwater recharge projects.
Beyond landowner credits, recharge project registration helps quantify the current capacity available for groundwater recharge within the North Fork Kings GSA to help the agency assess progress toward sustainability goals.
Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the North Fork Kings GSA is working to address groundwater overdraft and stabilize groundwater levels. A key component of achieving sustainability, while striving for continued viability of irrigated agriculture in the area, is to increase the use of available surface water as groundwater use is reduced. One way to increase the water supply is by capturing excess surface water when available and storing it underground through active recharge projects.
The North Fork Kings GSA thanks every landowner playing an active role by conducting recharge activities. Privately operated recharge projects help the GSA maintain local control over sustainability goals, while replenishing the aquifer.
Stakeholders can access the registration form on the website here, and should email the completed form to jmendes@northforkkings.org. For questions on 2024 recharge projects, call the GSA at (559) 632-7032.
KINGS COUNTY LANDOWNERS, you may have seen information published in the news or heard from your neighbors about the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Board) decision on April 16th to put the Tulare Lake Subbasin on probation, meaning the State Board has intervened to manage groundwater. The North Fork Kings GSA is located in the Kings Subbasin, and currently has an approved Groundwater Sustainability Plan and IS NOT going through the probationary hearing process with the State Board. Groundwater will continue to be managed locally for parcels within the North Fork Kings GSA. If you have questions or concerns, contact the North Fork Kings GSA at our new number (559) 632-7032.
