ETGSA receives incomplete rating from state
As expected the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency received an incomplete rating from the State Department of Water Resources when it came to the agencies plan to meet the requirements of the Sustainability Groundwater Management Act.
Agencies from across the state have had to submit plans on how they will meet the requirements of the act, which requires the reduced use of groundwater. The ETGSA essentially covers Southeastern Tulare County.
On Friday the State Department of Water Resources submitted a letter to Tule River Watermaster David De Groot, who’s serving as point of contact for six groundwater sustainable plans for the San Joaquin Valley’s Tule Subbasin, which includes the ETGSA. De Groot didn’t return a phone call requesting a response on Friday.
The incomplete rating was expected based on a letter sent to ETGSA on December 9 basically warning the agency it was likely its groundwater sustainability plan wouldn’t be approved. Nearly all of the agencies evaluated so far have received incomplete ratings.
Only two agencies have had their plans approved — the Las Posas Valley Basin in Ventura County and the Indian Wells Valley Basin in Eastern Kern County
And with numerous lawsuits concerning the Indian Wells plan, it’s hard to know what that agency’s approval really means.
ETGSA now has six months to address deficiencies in its plan and to resubmit a plan to the state. Agencies can receive three ratings: Approved, incomplete and inadequate. At least ETGSA didn’t receive an inadequate rating in which the state would have
had the authority to intervene when it came to how the agency would implement its plan.
In its letter the state said ETGSA’S plan “does not satisfy the objectives of the Sustainable Groundwater Act nor substantially comply with GSP regulations. In its letter the state said its staff report provides corrective actions which it recommends the seven agencies in the Tule Subbasin which all received an incomplete rating review.
So now the ETGSA must look at what modifications it needs to make to its plan and resubmit it by July 27.
“If the revisions sufficiently address the identified deficiencies the department will determine that the Plan is approved,” the state said in its letter.
In the letter as was the case in the December 9 letter the state said the ETGSA’S plan lacks detail. Attached to the letter is the state’s findings which essentially lists all the areas in which it feels the plan lacks detail.
The state also said in its letter if ETGSA “cannot addres the deficiencies identified in this letter by July 27, 2022, then the Department, after consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, will determin the GSP to be inadequate.” In that even the state can then intervene when it comes to how ETGSA implements its plan.
In its findings of the Tule Subbasin plans, including the ETGSA’S plan, the state said, “The GSPS do not define undesirable results or set minimum thresholds and measurable objectives for groundwater levels in a manner consistent with the GSP regulations.”
The state’s findings also addresses the Friant-kern Canal, stating “the GSPS do not identify the total amount of subsidence that can be tolerated by the Friant-kern Canal during implementation of the GSPS in order to maintain the ability to reasonably operate to meet contracted for water supply deliveries.”
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday in which repairs to the Friantkern Canal have begun to deal with its subsidence or its sinking.
The findings go on to state: “The GSPS do not identify land uses or property interests, apart from the Friantkern Canal, susceptible to impacts from land subsidence.”
In addition the findings state: “The GSPS current minimum thresholds and measurable objectives for land subsidence are not consistent with the intent of SGMA that subsidence be avoided or minimized.”
The findings also state the Tule Subbasin’s GSPS don’t adequately address the issue of degraded water quality.