After a Successful 2024, North Kings GSA Looks Ahead to 2025 Priorities

A milestone for the agency, the North Kings GSA’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP or Plan) was approved by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2023. The approval was conditional upon addressing twelve corrective actions – the North Kings and its six Kings Subbasin partners’ efforts on that front included updating and resubmitting updated GSPs to the Department of Water Resources in January 2025.

This upcoming year, North Kings GSA will prioritize implementing its corrective actions as it maintains local control of the groundwater supply. This includes implementing the Domestic Well Mitigation Program. The GSA has committed $1 million in funding for the program for this year as part of its Domestic Well Mitigation Program Revolving Fund Policy. The GSA will also work to develop the program’s long-term funding strategy.

Well registration efforts will ramp up this year, with additional outreach, engagement, and support to well owners planned. The goal is to increase the total number of registrants to support long-term groundwater management efforts and show the state there is adequate data and information to manage and track progress toward sustainability. Well owners should register their wells through the Well Registration Portal as soon possible.

The North Kings GSA will also continue the work to fill existing data gaps for interconnected surface water along the San Joaquin River. As part of that effort, the GSA will need to define how much groundwater depletion is allowable before experiencing losses in the San Joaquin River, or in other words set what SGMA calls “sustainable management criteria”.

Defining this data will require installing monitoring wells and making investments to study the water resources. The issue is complex, involving understanding how much groundwater pumping might induce losses in the river. The North Kings GSA is committed to efficiently and accurately meeting this next milestone toward sustainability.

As North Kings GSA moves the needle toward sustainability, stakeholders are encouraged to sign up for the email list to be the first to receive groundwater updates.