When Water Supply is Scarce, Management Actions can Mitigate Overdraft
There are only two ways to achieve sustainability and eliminate groundwater overdraft for the North Fork Kings service area: increase water supply, primarily through project development and reduce water demand, primarily through management actions. The NFKGSA Board is emphasizing increasing water supply with the understanding there are hurdles to overcome.
The preliminary project list continues to be updated and contains recharge projects that would yield an estimated annual average of approximately 50,000 acre feet per year based on historic floodwater availability. The seven Kings Subbasin GSAs have reached agreement on an initial overdraft amount for the entire Kings Subbasin of 122,000 acre feet. The North Fork Kings GSA estimated amount of the 122,000 acre feet is 50,300 acre feet.
The amount of overdraft that cannot be overcome with increasing the water supply will need to be overcome with management actions that reduce water demand. Demand reduction through management actions will likely need to be initiated within 5 – 10 years if project development isn’t progressing as needed.
Management Actions are programs and policies that will aid the GSA in achieving sustainability primarily through water demand reduction measures and improving data monitoring. A suite of potential management actions will be presented in the GSP that could be implemented at the GSA level or landowner level. The GSA may not want to dictate management actions at the landowner level, what works for one landowner may not work for another and economic impacts must be considered.
Below are potential management actions that will be considered in the GSP and the estimated time for implementing those actions.
Management Actions for the 2020-2025 Timeframe
Management Actions for the 2025-2030 Timeframe
Management Actions for the 2030-2040 Timeframe
Discussions and the development of the management actions details will begin after the adoption of the GSP in January 2020.