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Mid-Kings River GSA / SGMA field guide

A pumping cap per parcel, and three charges to keep apart.

Growing in Mid-Kings River GSA? Since water year 2026 every registered parcel has an allocation, pumping is counted against it quarterly, and the Board has proposed two new charges on top of the overdraft penalty. This page separates the cap, the penalty, the per-acre-foot fee and the per-acre assessment, each with its own date.

Public sources checked . Confirm later changes with your GSA.

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The allocation, 2026 to 2040

“Landowners total pumping inclusive of landowner developed credits (Section 5) will be limited to a total cap of 3.0 AF/ac annually.”

Table 1 of the Groundwater Allocation Policy, adopted December 16, 2025 as Resolution 25-003, sets the allocation in acre-feet per acre. Water years 2026 to 2030: 1.43 sustainable yield plus 1.00 transitional, 2.43 total. Water years 2031 to 2035: 1.43 plus 0.60, 2.03 total. Water years 2036 to 2040: 1.43 plus 0.30, 1.73 total. A water year runs October 1 to September 30.

The basis is the total assessor acres of every registered parcel in the GSA, including tribal land. Parcels of 2 acres or less get a de minimis 2 acre-feet a year. City of Hanford parcels and parcels served by a public water system, including Armona and Home Garden, get no individual allocation. Transitional water goes to parcels irrigated at some point between 2015 and 2024 per Land IQ crop data, and to no others. The 1.43 comes from the GSA's 36 percent share of the subbasin's sustainable yield, about 126,000 acre-feet, set by 2021 to 2022 pumping.

Sustainable yield carries over for the next four years under a five-year rolling retirement. Transitional water does not carry over and cannot be transferred. Sustainable yield moves between registered parcels inside the GSA without penalty; a transfer out goes to a bordering GSA, to a contiguous parcel in the same farm unit, through a metered well, with annual approval.

The overdraft penalty

“$500 per AF for pumping above sustainable yield plus transitional and recharge credits”

The policy: landowners who pump above their total groundwater pumping allocations are subject to an additional overdraft penalty of up to $500 per acre-foot for pumping above sustainable yield plus transitional and recharge credits. In addition, the following year's allocation will be reduced by the amount of the overdraft. It is a flat charge on the overage, not a percentage tier.

A separate pumping fee on allocated water (sustainable yield, transitional allocations and recharge credits) is to be set by the Board annually. None had been set as of October 5, 2026. Measurement and registration violations run on their own ladder under the May 13, 2025 policies: a written notice with at least 90 days to comply, then up to $500 with at least 90 days to comply, then up to $1,000 per violation as determined by the Board.

Two proposed charges, neither posted as adopted

“This proposed assessment is a 'not-to-exceed' amount. Each year, the Board of Directors will set the actual annual assessment”

Groundwater extraction fee (Proposition 26, per acre-foot pumped, all pumpers): the five-year schedule noticed for the September 29, 2026 hearing was 2027 $9.23, 2028 $19.24, 2029 $17.84, 2030 $10.57 and 2031 $7.41 per acre-foot, from a July 22, 2026 cost-of-service study. Resolution 26-03, brought to that hearing, would set the water year 2027 fee at "an amount not to exceed nine dollars and twenty-three cents ($9.23) per acre-foot"; each later year needs its own Board action. The fee would fund a well mitigation pilot, dry well mitigation, water quality mitigation and subsidence mitigation. The result of the September 29 vote had not been posted as of October 5, 2026: proposed, not adopted.

Land assessment (Proposition 218, per assessable acre): the notice mailed August 13, 2026 proposed a maximum of $26.84 per assessable acre for fiscal years 2027 to 2031 (Engineer's Report schedule: $26.84, $23.29, $23.91, $22.54 and $23.53), a not-to-exceed amount the Board would set each year during its budget process, effective on the fall 2027 property tax bill if the ballot passed. Written objections were due by 5:00 p.m. on September 28, 2026. The ballot result had not been posted as of October 5, 2026: $26.84 is a proposed maximum, not an adopted charge.

Keep the three apart. The $500 per acre-foot is the adopted penalty on overdraft. Up to $9.23 per acre-foot is a proposed fee on all pumping. Up to $26.84 per acre is a proposed maximum assessment on land. The penalty is the single charge the estimator below prices.

Statements and invoices

“An annual groundwater pumping report based on LandIQ data is produced for each landowner at the end of the year”

Allocation accounting: the GSA monitors pumping quarterly against each parcel's allocation and closes the year with the annual report quoted above. The extraction fee, if adopted, would be billed on an annual basis for the 2027 water year, with invoices issued after the close of that water year, following receipt and verification of extraction reports provided by Land IQ or submitted by groundwater users. The draft resolution states no payment due date.

The assessment, if approved, would go on the fall 2027 property tax bill. Penalties and fines fall under a Policy and Procedures for Collecting Delinquent Fees, Assessments, or Charges that the allocation policy references but the GSA had not posted as of October 5, 2026. Watermark lists paying GSA fees, where offered, as an optional function.

Meter or satellite

“The acceptable methods for reporting groundwater flow are flow meters or evapotranspiration measurement.”

Landowners with meters may submit quarterly pumping reports as a substitute for the Land IQ analysis. Meter terms under the Pumping Measurement Policy, updated May 13, 2025 and in effect until June 1, 2027: a totalizer in tenths of an acre-foot, an instantaneous rate in GPM or CFS, accuracy of at least plus or minus 5 percent. The operator reads the meter on or near the opening day of each month and reports to the GSA in the week after each quarter closes (April, July, October and January). Calibration is documented every five years by a qualified professional, and must be repeated if at any point the GSA's estimates of groundwater use differ by more than 15 percent from the totalized meter records. Industrial and public-water-system wells must be metered.

Satellite terms: Land IQ evapotranspiration from Landsat imagery, minus metered surface water and the GSA's effective precipitation, divided by the irrigation efficiency the GSP assumes for the crop, with land use spot-checked for cropping patterns.

To challenge a Land IQ estimate with a private meter, the July 22, 2026 cost-of-service study asks for a calibration certificate from the previous five years, the manufacturer's specifications and installation requirements, and documentation that the meter was installed and maintained per the manufacturer. Active wells had to be registered by April 1, 2026 in Watermark (MLJ Environmental); reporting extractions in Watermark is currently optional but encouraged, and may become required.

Why it matters: the GSA's own rule converts a disagreement bigger than 15 percent into a recertification. A daily, signed meter record, with the calibration certificate kept beside it, is what settles that conversation. Our platform keeps the record, and its Documents tab can hold photographed calibration sheets; reporting to Watermark stays with you or your adviser.

Appeals

“The filing of an appeal does not stay the obligation to pay the fee”

Extraction fee invoice (draft Resolution 26-03, if adopted): a written appeal within thirty (30) days of the date of the invoice, with the parcel identification number, the basis for the appeal and supporting documentation; a written staff determination within forty-five (45) days; Board review on request. Payment is not stayed; if the appeal succeeds the GSA issues a corrected invoice or refunds the overpayment.

Allocation report: landowners with meters may contest the annual Land IQ pumping report and reconcile their accounts at the end of each calendar year. Landowners denied eligibility may appeal to the Board, and any measurement or registration violation notice may be appealed to the Board. No appeal form is posted.

The State's probation fee is separate

“Tulare Lake Subbasin remains under State Water Board probation”

The GSA's homepage says the State Water Board placed the subbasin on probation in April 2024 and that the GSA is taking part in the revised plan process, submitted May 2024 and pending a State response. Its Watermark page labels GEARS "State of California, Required due to probation" and lists filing for an exclusion if you qualify. Its local funding page: "Probation continues, resulting in increased State oversight, groundwater pumping fees, and reporting requirements."

The State's fees are a separate line from every GSA charge on this page and are not in the estimator. The newest litigation item on the GSA's site is a November 18, 2025 board update on the appellate ruling in Farm Bureau vs State Water Board. Nothing on midkingsrivergsa.org as of October 5, 2026 mentions the August 12, 2026 court order described on the State Water Board's Tulare Lake updates page (09/08/2026); that order covers the Tri-County Water Authority GSA and Southwest Kings GSA territories and no others, so it does not cover Mid-Kings River.

What this means for a 500-acre orchard

Allocation for water years 2026 to 2030: 500 × 2.43 = 1,215 acre-feet a year, which is 715 acre-feet sustainable yield plus 500 acre-feet transitional when every acre was irrigated between 2015 and 2024. The 3.0 acre-foot per acre cap holds total pumping, credits included, to 1,500 acre-feet. Pumping 1,315 acre-feet, 100 over the allocation, would carry up to 100 × $500 = $50,000 in overdraft penalty and a 100 acre-foot cut in the next year's allocation.

The two proposals, if adopted as noticed: water year 2027 pumping of 1,215 acre-feet would carry up to 1,215 × $9.23 = $11,214 in extraction fee, and 500 assessable acres would carry up to 500 × $26.84 = $13,420 on the fall 2027 tax bill. Neither was posted as adopted by October 5, 2026. Unit math from the GSA's published figures, not a claim about your orchard. Estimate only. Verify with Mid-Kings River 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.

October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (water year 2027). Enter the per-acre allocation from your Watermark account on registered assessor acres: 1.43 acre-feet sustainable yield plus 1.00 transitional for water years 2026 to 2030, plus any sustainable-yield carryover and GSA-approved recharge credits. Total pumping, credits included, is capped at 3.0 acre-feet per acre. Enter accounted pumping as the GSA counts it: Land IQ evapotranspiration net of metered surface water and effective precipitation, or your quarterly meter reports. Never enter the 3.0 cap as your budget, never add transitional water for a parcel that was not irrigated between 2015 and 2024, and never carry transitional water from a prior year.

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://midkingsrivergsa.org/media/Allocation%20Policy%20MKRGSA_adopted%2012162025.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.

Tulare Lake 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.

Tulare Lake Subbasin

Mid-Kings River GSA, c/o Kings County Community Development Agency, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd., Bldg 6, Hanford, CA 93230; (559) 852-2670; MKRGSA@co.kings.ca.us; office hours Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Board typically meets the second Tuesday of each month at 1 pm in the Kings County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd. Admin Bldg.; next meeting Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Board as listed October 5, 2026: Richard Valle, Doug Verboon, Rusty Robinson and Robert Thayer (Kings County Supervisors) and Kimber Regan (City of Hanford). Staff: Chuck Kinney, General Manager; Laurie Avedisian-Favini, General Counsel; Catherine Venturella, Clerk; Amer Hussain, Engineer (Geosyntec). Watermark (MLJ Environmental) is shared with El Rico and South Fork Kings GSAs.

Official Tulare Lake Subbasin source

Mid-Kings River GSA questions

Is the $500 per acre-foot the same thing as the $9.23 per acre-foot?

No. Up to $500 per acre-foot is the adopted overdraft penalty on pumping above your allocation and credits, and it comes with an equal cut in the next year's allocation. Up to $9.23 per acre-foot is the proposed water year 2027 extraction fee on all pumping, brought to a hearing on September 29, 2026; its adoption had not been posted by October 5, 2026.

What does $26.84 per acre buy?

It is the proposed maximum Proposition 218 assessment on assessable acres for fiscal years 2027 to 2031, to fund GSP implementation. The Board would set the actual rate each year, and the ballot result was not posted by October 5, 2026, so it is a proposed maximum, not an adopted charge.

Can my meter replace the Land IQ number?

Yes, with a compliant meter and quarterly reports. If the GSA's estimate differs from your totalizer by more than 15 percent the meter must go through calibration again, and a challenge needs a calibration certificate from the previous five years plus installation and maintenance documentation.

Do I pay the State too?

In the Tulare Lake Subbasin the GSA's Watermark page lists GEARS reporting as a State of California requirement due to probation, with an exclusion filing for those who qualify. The State Water Board's January 2026 FAQ, as reproduced by South Fork Kings GSA, lists $300 per well and $20 per acre-foot for non-de minimis pumpers. That is a State charge, separate from every GSA figure on this page; confirm the current reporting deadline and fee status with the State Water Board.

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

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