KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — A step in the right direction for the Kings County Farm Bureau.
On Thursday, a Kings County Superior Court judge ruled in their favor to continue their efforts to sue the California State Water Resources Control Board… after the board placed the Tulare Subbasin on probation back in April…
“That’s a big win not just for Kings County Farm Bureau, but really all of California agriculture,” says Dusty Ference, Executive Director of the Kings County Farm Bureau.
Dusty continues, “We hope that they realize that our case is strong and we need to do this differently. We need to handle probation and achieve sustainability differently.”
The Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit against the state water board in May of this year.
After the board ordered restrictions on growers in the Tulare Lake Subbasin.
That included charging farmers for pumping groundwater at a rate of $20 per acre-foot… and a $300 fee and registration requirement for each well on their property.
“And if that’s not enough, we were at risk in April 2025 of the State Resource Control Board implementing what they call an interim groundwater sustainable plant that means the state controls the subasin and how much water they could pump… or really how little water they can pump,” explains Ference.
He says fees and regulations could greatly impact agriculture and the local economy.
“We don’t have another industry that would make up jobs if they were lost,” Dusty says. “We’re at risk of losing the agriculture in Kings County, we’re at risk of losing everything.”
Our new partner ABC30 Action News reached out to the State Water Board, which also held a probation hearing with the Tule Subbasin on Tuesday for groundwater management practices.
The state board has said it’s concerned about the ground sinking due to too much water being pumped out from the Tulare subbasin.
The group argues the local plan was not doing enough, so it had to step in.
In a statement, they say they disagree with the ruling:
“This ruling solely impacts Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) implementation in the Tulare Lake Subbasin.” – State Water Board.
Kings County Farm Bureau and the State Water Board will return to court in January 2025.
