Kings Subbasin Allocation Framework Accepted by GSA Board

After more than a year of coordination, the seven Kings Subbasin GSAs have designed a framework for individual GSAs in the basin to develop groundwater allocations under SGMA. The framework, which establishes a basin-wide methodology for determining the sustainable yield of each GSA, was accepted by the North Kings GSA Board at the February Board Meeting. The framework was developed by the Kings Subbasin coordination group to help ensure consistency across the subbasin as allocations are implemented. 

What Accepting the Framework Means for an Allocation

While the Board has accepted this framework, acceptance does not mean an allocation is automatically in place. The agreed upon framework serves as a reference point or tool for if and when one of the GSAs in the Kings Subbasin decides to move forward on an allocation program within their boundary. Due to the unique needs and conditions of each GSA, the need for and timeline to an allocation will be different across the subbasin.

The framework does assign sustainable yield totals for each GSA (their piece of the Kings Subbasin groundwater “pie”), but it does not define or commit the GSAs to how they will allocate that water to member agencies or landowners – each GSA will need to develop its own rules & regulations as a part of implementing an allocation program.

Establishing a shared methodology now ensures the GSAs do not adopt allocation programs that account for water supplies differently, which can lead to multiple GSAs claiming the same water supply under separate accounting rules. Instead, the framework means better predictability for Kings Subbasin landowners by reducing the risk of course-correction on allocation numbers down the road during implementation, improving landowners’ ability to plan under SGMA.

North Kings GSA is not currently implementing groundwater allocations, but it does remain a tool in the toolbox should the hydrologic conditions, including drought, require it to stay on track with SGMA targets.

Remaining Coordinated as a Subbasin

Prior to Board approval, GSA managers hammered out a method to account for different sources of water in the Kings Subbasin at their monthly coordination group meetings. This intentional coordination effort upfront empowers each GSA to implement their individual management actions and remain on pace to achieve sustainability by 2040, while sparing landowners from major shifts in allocation recalculations.

Remaining coordinated as a Subbasin is a top priority in the Kings. SGMA requires entire subbasin’s to achieve sustainable groundwater, not just an individual GSA. The framework demonstrates the continued commitment among Kings Subbasin leadership to remain coordinated in their efforts to meet the SGMA 2040 deadline together.

The Framework Up Close

The Allocation Framework defines the different “buckets” of water that in total all add up to the “Sustainable Yield”, which is the amount of groundwater that can be sustainably pumped from a groundwater supply. The two main water supplies that feed into the Sustainable Yield are defined in the framework as “Native Sustainable Yield” and “Surface Water in the Ground” (or “SWIG”).

• Native Sustainable Yield = groundwater that naturally exists, inclusive of precipitation, natural river/stream seepage, mountain front recharge, and deep percolation from irrigation by riparian, or claimed riparian, water users.
• Surface Water in the Ground (SWIG) is groundwater present because of return flow of surface water supplies that have seeped into the ground, inclusive of all local water supplies from the Kings River that are intentionally diverted, recharged or banked. SWIG is a credit above the Native Sustainable Yield that stays with the surface water rights holder.  

According to the framework, The North Kings GSA has 445,800 acre-feet (AF) of Sustainable Yield, of which 186,400 AF is Native Sustainable Yield and 259,400 AF is SWIG. The current calculations are averages based on a rolling 15-year hydrologic period. The numbers will be revised periodically to account for current conditions. It is important to reiterate that this sustainable yield number does not define how it will be allocated to member agencies and landowners.