1 day Ago By John Lindt
Kings County Superior Court judge Kathy Ciuffini handed Kings County farmers a victory in their effort to block the state from enforcing groundwater pumping regulations. The judge slapped the state with an injunction, arguing that the state water board had overstepped its authority. The injunction will stay in place until there is a trial, with no date set as of yet.
The lawsuit had been brought by the Kings County Farm Bureau and other farmers, challenging the state’s decision to designate the water basin as “probationary,” and triggering pumping fees and monitoring rules. The state water board argues the basin was severely overdrafted and that needs to be further regulated. The state had set up an aggressive timetable that required growers to act to halt over-pumping and to quickly install meters on their wells, pay fees of $300 per well and $20 per acre-feet of groundwater that they pump.
Now that has been put on hold as the two sides battle it out in court. Numerous reports point to over-pumping causing damage to roads, canals, and other infrastructure with land sinking near the town of Corcoran for more than a decade, going down 11.5 feet in some parts.
Dusty Ference, Executive Director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, called the decision a “monumental win,” noting it “highlights the validity of our claims.” Farmers fear the state will make it uneconomical to till the soil here in the future. The ruling came on the 10th anniversary of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act which requires reduced pumping of California basins to a sustainable level.
This week the State Water Resources Control Board placed the nearby overdrafted Tule Groundwater Subbasin in probationary status under the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Their staff report says overdraft in the Tule Subbasin is causing the land surface to sink, damaging critical infrastructure, like the Friant-Kern Canal. Subsidence along the Friant-Kern Canal has caused nearly a half billion dollars in damage.
This damage is currently being repaired, but ongoing subsidence threatens the integrity of these repairs before they are even complete. In addition, overdraft threatens groundwater levels and drinking water quality and could have disparate impacts on communities that rely on shallow wells. Water board staff presented findings from their final report on the Tule Subbasin, which describes the deficiencies in the subbasin’s groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) that have led to the probationary designation.
“The action we have taken today will protect groundwater resources in the Tule Subbasin for communities that rely on it for basic needs, like drinking water, while local agencies work to improve their sustainability plans,” said Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Board. “The ultimate goal of SGMA, and the probationary process, is for groundwater subbasins to be managed sustainably at the local level. We are committed to helping groundwater agencies make that happen by providing guidance and support.
” More from this section On average, water is being pumped out of the Tule Subbasin faster than it is recharged by rain and other sources. It is causing the aquifer to lose enough water to supply at least the equivalent of 500,000 households with water every year says the report. An analysis conducted by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) found that over 550 domestic wells could go dry if recent drought conditions returned.
Many of the wells that could go dry are in economically disadvantaged communities and communities of color. The board partially excluded groundwater extractors within two GSAs — the Delano Earlimart Irrigation District and Kern-Tulare Water District — from reporting requirements and associated fees on the condition that they remain in compliance with management actions implemented by their GSAs. Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed in five new Central Valley dairies, with two more presumptive positive cases pending, the California Department of Food and Agriculture reported last week.
If the presumptive positive cases are confirmed, it moves the total tally from eight to 10 dairies that have tested positive for the disease, also referred to as HPAI. Another 15 dairies tested negative. California confirmed its first three cases of HPAI in dairy cows on Aug.
30. All the cases so far have been in the Central Valley, says CFB. Avenal Cutoff Road is closed for construction and rehab starting at the California aqueduct till you reach interstate five about a 2.
7-mile stretch. The popular road will be closed until Oct. 20 according to the city of Avenal.
Consider alternate routes heading east/west like Jayne Avenue or Omaha. U.S.
gasoline prices should continue dropping into the fall, says oil expert Tom Kloza. Kloza says the median gas price is now just above three dollars nationwide, the lowest since June 2021. He says to expect a drop in California with wholesale prices down this week that should be passed on to the consumer.
The wholesale price of US gasoline has dropped $.80 from last April. Beer consumption in the U.
S. has slid to its lowest level since the 1970s according to data from the Brewers Association, putting a crimp in farmers' plans in the Midwest who now face a huge glut of barley. Americans are buying less beer, and frequenting fewer craft breweries that use even more malt per beverage.
NOAA says as of Sept. 14 we've had 63 days so far this year when the high temperature reached at least 100 degrees. They say the record was set in 2021 when there were 74 days with a high temperature of over 100 degrees.
But we still have a month or so of potential hot weather to beat the record. The hottest day so far in 2024 was 113. Fowler-based National Raisin Company has sold to a large ag group based in Chile.
The California company is said to have 350 employees and handles about 50,000 tons of raisins annually. National Raisin Co. is owned by the Bedrosian family.
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