I attended two separate Kern Subbasin GSA board meetings this past week. The Kern folks are ready for their hearing. A tremendous amount of work has been done by this more than 1 million acre subbasin. There are 22 different GSAs, but they are very coordinated in their submitted Groundwater Sustainability Plans. They have done the work of modifying their plans and worked closely with the State Board members and staff in anticipation of the hearing next week. While the final State Board staff report released in January does recommend putting the Kern Subbasin into probation, this past week an Alternative Draft Resolution was released for the State Board members to consider at the hearing. The Alternative Resolution recognizes the progress Kern has made in fixing the deficiencies and continues the probationary hearing until September 17, 2025, at which time presumably Kern will have fully addressed the deficiencies, and the State Board members could vote to return oversight of the Kern Subbasin to the Department of Water Resources.
There are no guarantees going into next week's hearing that the alternative resolution will be the one adopted. The original resolution puts Kern into probation, but there was guarded hope in the meetings I attended that with a little more time, the Kern Subbasin might be able to get over the finish line.
See the agenda for the Kern County Subbasin Probationary Hearing and details about how to watch and participate here.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel
Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs
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