State board to vote on reducing extraction fees for probationary basins
On the eve of its first subbasin probationary hearing, the state Water Resources Control Board announced it will vote on whether to reduce a controversial groundwater extraction fee. The board will vote at its March 19 meeting on whether to cut the fee from $40 to $20-per-acre-foot for well owners in a subbasin placed on probation. It will hold its first probationary hearing on the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers Kings County, on April 16. Then the Tule subbasin, in the southern half of the valley portion of Tulare County, will come up for hearing Sept. 17. The extraction fee would only be charged if the Water Board had to step in and administer a subbasin in cases where it finds local groundwater agencies aren’t up to the job.
Related articles:
- SJV Sun: Westlands recharges 380,000 acre-feet of water
- SJV Water: “We’re finished” - Some small Kings County farmers fear state’s groundwater law being used against them
- SJV Water: Dry well program in Chowchilla has “fallen short” of applicants
- Noozhawk: Federal grant helps fund Goleta’s first new groundwater well in 40 years
- Claremont Courier: City prepares for groundwater seepage claims