Kings Subbasin Maintains Highly Coordinated Approach to Sustainability Efforts

Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) Updated

As the Kings Subbasin prepares to submit updated Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) to the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the region has approached another important milestone in its journey toward sustainable groundwater management. The GSPs were updated as a highly coordinated effort.

One of the coordinated components included an update to the hydrologic base period used as the basis to understand groundwater conditions and set sustainability goals and the strategies to achieve them. With input from DWR, the Kings Subbasin updated its base period from 1997-2011 to 2009–2023 to reflect more recent water supply conditions in planning efforts.  

Using a more recent period helps frame a realistic snapshot of the groundwater overdraft conditions the GSAs are working to resolve under SGMA, allowing the agencies to plan and manage groundwater effectively while setting realistic benchmarks for sustainability.

This update reflects a slightly higher estimated overdraft occurring in the Kings Subbasin compared to the previous period due to capturing the 2012-2015 drought.

The Subbasin plans to update the baseline periodically – this is critical to ensure the goals and strategies for sustainability are appropriate for current conditions.

In addition to updating their respective GSPs, the subbasin updated its Coordination Agreement, which establishes a unified approach to achieving sustainability.

Subbasin to Coordinate on Sustainable Yield Framework

Looking ahead, further coordination among the Kings Subbasin GSAs will begin to include early exploration of a shared methodology and framework for calculating sustainable yield (the amount of groundwater that can be pumped sustainably). 

Working on this framework now is important in the event one of the GSAs finds demand-reducing management actions are needed to stay on target with SGMA’s 2040 sustainability deadline. Establishing the framework now ensures there is a fair and equitable framework the entire Subbasin has agreed to follow for water accounting. This includes how to measure and credit surface water inputs and groundwater outputs.

The Kings Subbasin GSAs will continue to meet monthly as they have since the beginning of GSP development to maintain the highly coordinated approach that has served the subbasin well in maintaining local management authority on SGMA efforts.