Kern water managers’ struck out again on their fourth attempt to write an adequate plan to protect the region’s groundwater, according to a report from state Water Resources Control Board staff released Tuesday, which recommends the board put the subbasin on probation at its Feb. 20 hearing in Sacramento. Probation would bring with it requirements for farmers to meter and register their wells at $300 each, report all extractions and pay an added $20 per acre foot pumped to the state. That’s on top of fees and assessments they already pay to their water districts and groundwater sustainability agencies. Specifically, the staff report found Kern’s recently revised plans still don’t do enough to protect water quality and domestic wells from going dry;  keep land from sinking around critical canals and other infrastructure; and stem the chronic lowering of groundwater, among other issues.

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