San Joaquin Valley – Kings

Statistics

Basin Name

Basin Number

5-022.08

SGMA Basin Priority

High

Critically Overdrafted

Yes

Hydrologic Region Name

Tulare Lake

Counties

Fresno, Kings

Adjacent Basins

San Joaquin Valley - Westside 5-022.09, San Joaquin Valley - Delta Mendota 5-022.07, San Joaquin Valley - Madera 5-022.06, San Joaquin Valley - Tulare Lake 5-022.12, San Joaquin Valley - Kaweah 5-022.11,

At-A-Glance

Located in California’s Tulare Lake hydrologic region, the San Joaquin Valley – Kings is 981,324.82 acres in size. This High priority basin is home to an estimated 916,084 people (2010 value), which have been at a rate of 32.33.

San Joaquin Valley – Kings is a(n) basin with approximately 17 wells, of which approximately 698 are water supply wells. Groundwater accounts for approximately 84 percent of the basin’s water supply.

Source: CA DWR

2003: Bulletin 118 basin description

2014: CASGEM basin prioritization – high

2016: Basin boundary modifications approved with the Madera 5-022.06, Westside 5-022.09, Delta-Mendota 5-022.07, and Tracy 5-022.15 sub-basins

2018: Draft priority – high. Groundwater level and salt intrusion comments:

CRITICAL OVERDRAFT 1) CASGEM/WDL/GWIDS: Longterm hydrographs show groundwater level decline. Source: DWR 2) The region faces many water management challenges including groundwater overdraft, surface water shortages in dry years, and groundwater quality problems in certain areas. Groundwater overdraft is generally considered the largest regional problem with the current plan area overdraft estimated to be 100,000 to 150,000 AF/year. The longterm decline in groundwater storage will be significant if current water management strategies are maintained. Correcting the overdraft through regional efforts will help lead to overall maintenance and improvement in the quantity, quality and cost of development of groundwater resources in the region.
Sources: 1) Current Land Subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, USGS; 2) 2014 – Land Subsidence from Groundwater Use in California, California Water Foundation / James W. Borchers / Michael Carpenter, Luhdorff & Salmanini, April 2014; 3) Progress Report: Subsidence in the Central Valley, California, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, NASA 2015-16

Shallow Aquifers of the Madera– Chowchilla and Kings Subbasins, San Joaquin Valley, California, U.S. Geological Survey, January 2018

2019: Basin boundary modification. Per DWR: It “revises the northeastern external boundary of the Kings subbasin to more accurately follow mapped contacts between alluvial units and non- alluvial geologic units. The requesting agency provided sufficient scientific rationale and utilized a qualified map for the boundary revision.” Phase 2 draft basin priority: high

December 20, 2019 – Coordination agreement between Central Kings, Kings River East, North Fork Kings, James Groundwater, North Kings and South Kings GSAs

2020: January 28th –

Central Kings GSA Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) submitted to the Department of Water Resources
North Fork Kings GSP submitted to DWR
South Kings GSA‘s GSP submitted to DWR
McMullin Area GSA‘s GSP submitted to DWR
Kings River East GSP submitted to DWR
North Kings GSP submitted to DWR
James GSA GSP submitted to DWR