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AgWaterAI

Kern County / SGMA field guide

Your water balance sets the bill.

Growing citrus, grapes or nuts in Kern? Start with the agency on your parcel, then its water accounting. A county-wide penalty rate would give you the wrong answer.

Public sources checked . Confirm later changes with your GSA.

Estimate your exposureBook a 15-min call

Rosedale-Rio Bravo: the adopted excess-use charge

“$145.00 per acre-foot”

For calendar 2026, signed Resolution 552 sets that rate on agricultural water use above the farming unit's available supply. It is a flat excess-use charge, not a county-wide pumping penalty or a percentage-based tier.

The resolution was adopted November 11, 2025. Payment is expected in or around May 2027, with the exact due date left to further board action. Other assessments are not priced here.

Get the available supply before estimating exposure

The district accounts for available water and use at the farming-unit level. Ask for that balance before comparing water use with a budget. A well-meter total alone is not the district's excess-use calculation.

This page does not assign Rosedale-Rio Bravo's charge to the other Kern agencies. Follow your GSA link below for its own allocation, water-accounting rules and assessments.

What this means for a 500-acre orchard

Acreage alone does not establish a charge. On the illustration's 500 acres, each acre-foot per acre of GSA-confirmed excess would mean 500 acre-feet × $145 = $72,500 in the excess-use component. That is unit math, not a claim that your orchard overuses water.

Enter your actual district-accounted budget and use below. No crop-demand assumption is added.

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.

January 1 to December 31, 2026. Use the district farming-unit water balance: available supply and chargeable water use, not gross well pumping.

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 2026-09-07: https://www.rrbwsd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Resolution-552-Setting-the-Rate-of-2026-Water-Charge.pdf

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.

Kern County subbasins and 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 2026-09-07.

Kern County Subbasin

Official Kern County Subbasin source

White Wolf Subbasin

Official White Wolf Subbasin source

Tule Subbasin, northern county boundary

Official Tule Subbasin, northern county boundary source

Indian Wells Valley Basin

Official Indian Wells Valley Basin source

Cuyama Valley Basin

Official Cuyama Valley Basin source

Kern County questions

Does every Kern County grower pay the Rosedale-Rio Bravo rate?

No. Resolution 552 applies to Rosedale-Rio Bravo agricultural excess use, not every Kern County parcel. Confirm the GSA and its accounting basis.

Can my Kern orchard meter reading establish the water charge?

Not by itself. The Rosedale-Rio Bravo calculation needs the farming-unit available supply and district-accounted use. Confirm which credits and water sources are included.

When is the Rosedale-Rio Bravo calendar-year charge due?

Resolution 552 anticipates collection in or around May 2027 for calendar 2026. It leaves the exact payment date to a later board action; check the district notice.

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

A short conversation about your accounting basis, missing evidence and questions for the GSA. No assumed water savings.

Book a 15-min call