San Joaquin Valley – Tule

Statistics

Basin Name

Basin Number

5-022.13

SGMA Basin Priority

High

Critically Overdrafted

Yes

Hydrologic Region Name

Tulare Lake

Counties

Tulare

Adjacent Basins

San Joaquin Valley - Kern County 5-022.14, San Joaquin Valley - Kaweah 5-022.11, San Joaquin Valley - Tulare Lake 5-022.12,

At-A-Glance

Located in California’s Tulare Lake hydrologic region, the San Joaquin Valley – Tule is 477,646 acres in size. This High priority basin is home to an estimated 109,471 people (2010 value), which have been at a rate of 37.53.

San Joaquin Valley – Tule is a(n) basin with approximately 3396 wells, of which approximately 154 are water supply wells. Groundwater accounts for approximately 90.37 percent of the basin’s water supply.

Source: CA DWR

2003: Bulletin 118 basin description

2014: CASGEM basin prioritization – high. Comments: Critical aquifer overdraft conditions in basin. High nitrate and TDS in some locations and some inorganic contamination issues.

2016: Basin boundary modification accepted with San Joaquin Valley – Kern subbasin 5-022.14

Revised basin boundary description

2018: Draft priority – high. Groundwater level and subsidence comments:

CRITICAL OVERDRAFT. 1) CASGEM/WDL/GWIDS: Longterm hydrographs show groundwater level decline. Source: DWR 2) In the Pixley area, the maximum InSAR-measured rate during 2008-2010 was 90 mm yr. Groundwater was an important part of the water supply in both areas, and pumping increased when land use changed or when surface water was less available. This increased pumping caused groundwater-level declines to near or below historical lows during the drought periods 2007-2009 and 2012-present. Source: Land subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, California, USA, 2007–2014, M. Sneed and J.T. Brandt, Proceedings of the International Society of Hydrological Sciences, 11/12/15
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

2018 Final Basin Prioritization: Basin Priority remains unchanged at high priority.

2020: January 16: Coordination agreement between multiple Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAS) producing multiple Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPS) for Tule Subbasin published