As aquifers continue to decline in the southern San Joaquin Valley, farmers and town residents alike are struggling to come up with groundwater sustainability plans that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will certify. Otherwise, the state will take over—a fate that nobody wants. Tulare County is a case in point. The plan that the Kaweah Sub-Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency came up with in 2022 failed to protect domestic wells and disadvantaged communities. Some 40% of domestic wells, more than 1,500 of them, could dry up under the plan. Fifty-three public supply wells would also go dry, and drinking water contamination could worsen. 

Other San Joaquin Valley water news:

• The Porterville Recorder: City set to leave ETGSA, join with PID
• Manteca-Ripon Bulletin: Harder seeks continued federal funds to go after swamp rat infestation
• SJV Water: Volunteers learn to foster trout eggs in anticipation of releasing fry into the Kings River