Regulatory challenges and increasing water demands are shifting pressures and creating fierce resource competition in the San Joaquin Valley that will affect Kings County’s future, according to one speaker at the State of Kings County event held Thursday. … Steve Haugen, Kings River Watermaster and head of the Kings River Water Association, which serves portions of Fresno and Kings Counties … briefly spoke about the challenges the association faces such as water demand, competitors and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).