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East Kaweah GSA / SGMA field guide

0.82 at no cost. Uncovered use above it costs up to $500 and next year's water.

Growing citrus, nuts or grapes in East Kaweah? Allocation Year 2027 opened October 1, 2026 with the same numbers as 2026: 0.82 acre-feet per acre of native yield at no cost, a 0.72 acre-foot precipitation credit debited ahead of everything else, and a 2.5 acre-foot hard cap. Use above 0.82 that is not covered by credits, and any use above 2.5, carries up to $500 per acre-foot and a one-for-one reduction of the 2028 allocation. The GSA measures consumptive use by satellite; your meter counts in a protest, not on the bill.

Public sources checked . Confirm later changes with your GSA.

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The allocation year 2027 numbers

“Native Yield = 0.82 AF/acre at no cost”

From the GSA's allocation page for AY2027 (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027): "Native Yield = 0.82 AF/acre at no cost", "Precipitation credit = 0.72 AF/acre", "Hard Cap = 2.5 AF". Transitional pumping (the Tier 1 and Tier 2 allocations of earlier years) is 0.00 acre-feet per acre: the Technical Advisory Committee recommended 0.00 for AY2026 and the Board kept AY2027 unchanged. The Board approved AY2027 "unchanged from the previous year" at its July 27, 2026 meeting, where Resolution 2026-02 was on the agenda, after the Technical Advisory Committee's July 10, 2026 recommendation of 0.82 and 0.72.

Who gets it: "Eligible Land" is any assessor parcel over two acres inside the GSA, excluding the City of Lindsay. The precipitation credit is 92 percent of a 25-year rolling average of rainfall and is debited ahead of everything else, month by month. Unused native allocation carries over as Groundwater Credits for a rotation of five years, oldest credits used before newer ones. Native allocation and credits can be transferred inside the GSA on a form provided by the Agency (not posted online as of October 5, 2026; ask the office), and native allocation to another Kaweah GSA with both agencies' approval. Mitigation Tier credits are sold at $500 per acre-foot while supplies last, and the order form says they never expire. Requests to opt in are due by May 1 of the year before the allocation year.

History on the same page: AY2022 total 1.65; AY2023 native 0.85 plus 0.3 Tier 1; AY2024 native 0.85 plus a 0.05 Mitigation Tier at $500 per acre-foot; AY2025 native 0.82 with a 0.73 precipitation credit; AY2026 native 0.82, precipitation credit 0.72, hard cap 2.5.

The penalty

“$500 per AF and one-for-one reduction in 2028 allocation for any use (including groundwater credits) beyond 2.5 AF hard cap”

Up to $500 per acre-foot, at two boundaries. The allocation page states them for AY2027: "$500 per AF and one-for-one reduction in 2028 allocation for use over .82 AF/acre unless the groundwater between .82 AF and 2.5 AF is imported allocated groundwater (credits)", and the same $500 and one-for-one reduction "for any use (including groundwater credits) beyond 2.5 AF hard cap". There is no fee for native yield groundwater use.

Rule 7.00 of the Rules and Regulations (revised April 24, 2023) sets a penalty "equal to $500 multiplied by the excess volume measured in AF", payable "within 30 days of the issuance of an invoice for that penalty by the Agency, or within any other period established by the Board and shown on the subject invoice", and adds that the Agency "may deduct all or a portion of the excess volume from the Eligible Landowner's allocations for the immediately following Allocation Year."

The $500 rate has applied since the emergency ordinance effective October 1, 2021, when the threshold was 1.65 acre-feet per acre (AY2022). It moved to 1.15 for AY2023, 0.85 for AY2024 and 0.82 from AY2025. For AY2025 the page applied the one-for-one reduction above the 2.5 cap alone; for AY2026 and AY2027 it applies at both boundaries.

When the invoice comes

“The GSA's annual invoicing process began May 1 with an invoice review period through the end of May. Final invoices were mailed in June and were due July 15.”

That is the AY2025 cycle in the GSA's words (news post of August 13, 2026). Unpaid AY2025 invoices were placed on the 2026-2027 county tax bill after a hearing at the July 27, 2026 Board meeting, which the GSA calls "part of the GSA's established process for collecting outstanding groundwater allocation fees".

Earlier cycles: AY2023 invoicing ended September 16, 2024 with payments due October 1, 2024. AY2024 invoicing was extended to May 16, 2025 with payments due June 30, 2025, and on July 28, 2025 the Board moved all unpaid AY2024 fees to the 2026 tax roll. Each spring the Board adopts the annual resolution Tulare County needs to place unpaid charges on the secured tax roll (Resolution 2026-01 on April 27, 2026). The Rules' default is payment within 30 days of the invoice, or any other period the Board sets and prints on it.

The AY2026 invoice calendar (for use from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026) had not been published as of October 5, 2026. Watch the GSA's news page and your mail rather than assuming last year's dates.

How the GSA measures, and where your meter fits

“The Agency will measure water use and groundwater extraction using the Evapotranspiration method.”

That is Rule 5.01. Land IQ delivers field-level monthly evapotranspiration; surface water deliveries reported by the surface water entities, and any other credits to the account, are subtracted from total ET to reach groundwater use, which the Agency debits within 30 days of the end of the prior month. Landowners see it on the Water Dashboard (gsawd.com), and the Land IQ Daily Irrigation Management Tool (landiqdaily.com) is available to East Kaweah landowners at no extra cost.

A private flow meter is not a billing alternative in East Kaweah; the Rules contain no meter election. It matters in a protest: "Any protest must include data of applied usage from instrumentation registered with the Agency, properly installed, and operating within the manufacturer's specifications. Otherwise, the protest will be disallowed," plus "the maintenance records of all equipment and instrumentation upon which the protest is based." How instrumentation is registered with the Agency is not described on the GSA's site as of October 5, 2026; ask the office before relying on a meter.

The subbasin's own meter study (Fresno State California Water Institute, requested by East Kaweah GSA for the Kaweah Subbasin GSAs) found all eight meters tested in standard installations within plus or minus 5 percent, none of the five tested in non-standard configurations within that standard, and recommended installation of telemetry units by factory-trained technicians. Whether the report's criteria are the Agency's acceptance standard is not published; the Rules themselves require instrumentation operating within the manufacturer's specifications.

Why it matters: a protest without a registered, maintained meter record is disallowed, and the loser pays the Agency's costs. Our platform keeps the daily, signed meter record, and its Documents tab (dashboard and iPhone app) can hold photographed calibration and maintenance sheets beside it. Filing the protest stays with you or your adviser.

Protests

“If the protest is not resolved in favor of the protestor, the protestor must reimburse the Agency for the Agency's reasonable costs incurred in the protest.”

The measurement or the invoice: in writing to the Executive Director "no later than 30 days of receipt of billing"; if it cannot be resolved within 60 days of receipt, the Executive Director submits it to the Board for a ruling; the cost rule quoted above is Rule 7.03(f).

The allocation itself: a written protest within 30 days of the mailing date of the notice; Executive Director recommendation to the Board within 60 days; Board action within 120 days; the landowner must be in good standing (Rule 3.03).

The May invoice review period is the informal window before invoices go final; the GSA held one-on-one meetings with its management analyst for AY2024 invoicing support. No protest form was posted as of October 5, 2026; a protest is a letter to the Executive Director.

The State

“determined that a probationary designation for the Kaweah Subbasin was not necessary and that it would return the subbasin to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) jurisdiction”

The Kaweah Subbasin is not on State probation. On December 2, 2025 the State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution 2025-0040 with four votes in favor and none opposed, finding that a probationary designation "is not necessary at this time" and returning the subbasin to DWR's jurisdiction under SGMA. In 2026 the GSA reported its opening formal coordination meeting with DWR since the subbasin left the probation path.

This page prices no State Water Board fee. The subbasin sits under DWR, not under a State Water Board probationary designation; confirm any later change with the GSA.

What this means for a 500-acre orchard

Free native allocation: 500 x 0.82 = 410 acre-feet, plus a precipitation credit of 500 x 0.72 = 360 acre-feet debited ahead of everything else against measured consumptive use. Consumptive use of 900 acre-feet would be covered to 770; the remaining 130 acre-feet, if not covered by purchased or transferred credits, would carry up to 130 x $500 = $65,000 and a 130 acre-foot cut in the 2028 allocation. The hard cap for the orchard is 500 x 2.5 = 1,250 acre-feet.

These are the GSA's unit numbers applied to an illustrative acreage, not a claim about your orchard's water use. The estimator below prices groundwater use above native yield plus credits and reports the following-year reduction separately. Estimate only. Verify with East Kaweah GSA.

Free SGMA estimator

Use your GSA account, not a county average.

ESTIMATE ONLY. Verify with your GSA. This is not a bill, a compliance determination or an irrigation recommendation.

Example selection. Confirm your parcel’s GSA.

Allocation year 2027, October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. Count groundwater alone. As the budget, enter the 0.82 native yield plus GSA-approved imported groundwater credits that cover pumping. As use, enter groundwater use as the Water Dashboard counts it: Land IQ consumptive use after surface water and the 0.72 precipitation credit are debited. Never add the precipitation credit to the budget as well. The 2.5 hard cap still applies.

Enter your eligible acres in place of the 500-acre example.

Use the same accounting basis as your GSA.

For this period and these acres. No assumed use.

Enter your acreage, GSA-approved budget and accounted use, then confirm the GSA and period. Blank does not mean zero.

Rate source, checked 2026-10-05: https://ekgsa.org/allocation/

AF means acre-feet. Inputs stay in this page and are not submitted to a server. The estimator reuses the allocation and tier arithmetic behind our SGMA calculator.

Kaweah Subbasin GSA contacts

County lines are not GSA boundaries. These are public agency and shared agency websites, not a determination of parcel coverage. Basin partners may extend into neighboring counties. Open the official directory or map before choosing a rate. Checked 2026-10-05.

Kaweah Subbasin

East Kaweah GSA: PO Box 908, Lindsay, CA 93247; office at 315 E. Lindmore Street, Lindsay; (559) 697-6095; groundwater@ekgsa.org. Regular Board meetings fall on the fourth Monday of the opening month of each quarter (January, April, July and October); the next regular meeting is October 26, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Water Dashboard: gsawd.com. Daily ET: landiqdaily.com. Greater Kaweah GSA: 227 N West St, Visalia, CA 93291; (559) 302-9987; info@greaterkaweahgsa.org; its Board meets the second Monday of each month at 1:00 p.m. Staff listed on ekgsa.org: Michael D. Hagman, Executive Director; Christopher R. Hunter, Program Manager; Scott Maskell, Management Analyst. Board chair: David Roberts (Stone Corral Irrigation District); vice-chair: Craig Hornung (Wutchumna Water Company).

Official Kaweah Subbasin source

East Kaweah GSA questions

Does my 0.72 precipitation credit add to the 0.82?

It is debited ahead of everything else against your measured consumptive use, so 1.54 acre-feet per acre of consumptive use (0.82 plus 0.72) is covered before any penalty applies. Rainfall credits cannot be transferred.

Can I bill on my own flow meter instead of Land IQ?

No. East Kaweah's rules measure use by the evapotranspiration method and contain no meter election. A registered, maintained meter record is required evidence if you protest the measurement.

What happens if I do not pay the invoice?

Unpaid invoices are placed on the Tulare County tax bill; AY2025 balances went on the 2026-2027 bill after the July 27, 2026 hearing.

Do I report to the State Water Board?

No. On December 2, 2025 the State Water Board determined that a probationary designation for the Kaweah Subbasin was not necessary and returned the subbasin to DWR jurisdiction (Resolution 2025-0040).

Bring the allocation statement. We'll work through the math.

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