Tulare County / SGMA field guide
Native yield is not the hard cap.
In East Kaweah, an orchard's groundwater budget, imported credits and hard cap play different roles. Paying an overuse charge does not erase the effect on the following year's allocation.
Public sources checked . Confirm later changes with your GSA.
East Kaweah: the published groundwater limits
“There is no fee for Native Yield groundwater use”
For October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, native yield is 0.82 acre-feet per acre. The hard cap is 2.5 acre-feet per acre. The separate 0.72 acre-foot per acre precipitation credit is not additional groundwater pumping allowance.
Use above native yield must be covered by allocated imported groundwater credits within the hard cap. Uncovered use, and any pumping above the hard cap, draws $500 per acre-foot plus a 1:1 reduction in the 2027 allocation. These are accounting bands, not rising percentage-based prices.
The GSA also publishes the same limits and charge for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, with the reduction applied to 2028. The estimator below is explicitly for the earlier period.
- East Kaweah GSA, published allocation and penalty schedulehttps://ekgsa.org/allocation/Checked 2026-09-07
Check the subbasin before using this schedule
Tulare County overlies parts of Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Tulare Lake. East Kaweah's schedule does not apply across them. The State Water Board's April 2026 Tule update also identifies newer district GSAs and separate reporting obligations.
Use the current agency map for your parcel. Local overuse charges do not replace any applicable state reporting fees. Those fees and local base assessments are outside this estimator.
- Tulare County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, groundwater sectionhttps://www.tulare.ca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/21973/638539598358870000Checked 2026-09-07
- State Water Board, Tule Subbasin agency update, April 22, 2026https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CAWRCB/bulletins/414217aChecked 2026-09-07
The distinction across a 500-acre orchard
At the published rates, 500 acres have 410 acre-feet of native yield and a 1,250 acre-foot hard cap. The difference is not free groundwater. Imported credits must cover use above native yield within the cap.
The calculator prices only chargeable excess. It also shows the equal following-year allocation reduction separately, without inventing a dollar value for lost allocation.
- East Kaweah GSA, published allocation and penalty schedulehttps://ekgsa.org/allocation/Checked 2026-09-07
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.
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://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.
Tulare 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.
Kaweah Subbasin
Official Kaweah Subbasin sourceTule Subbasin
Agency boundaries have changed. The newer Porterville, Saucelito and Terra Bella GSAs are also listed in the State Water Board April 2026 update linked below. Confirm your current agency before using an older plan.
- Alpaugh GSA
- Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District GSA
- Eastern Tule GSA
- County of Tulare GSA
- Kern-Tulare Water District GSA
- Lower Tule River Irrigation District GSA
- Pixley Irrigation District GSA
- Tea Pot Dome Water District GSA
- Vandalia Water District GSA
- Tri-County Water Authority GSA
- Porterville Irrigation District GSA
- Saucelito Irrigation District GSA
- Terra Bella Irrigation District GSA
Kings Subbasin
Basin-wide partners are listed. Kings River East extends into Tulare County; use the official map for the parcel boundary.
- Central Kings GSA
- James GSA
- Kings River East GSA
- McMullin Area GSA
- North Fork Kings GSA
- North Kings GSA
- South Kings GSA
Tulare Lake Subbasin, western boundary
Not the same subbasin as Tule. Basin-wide agencies are listed, including partners in Kings County.
Official Tulare Lake Subbasin, western boundary sourceTulare County questions
Can an East Kaweah orchard pump to the hard cap without credits?
The hard cap is not the no-charge allocation. Use above native yield needs eligible imported credits to avoid the overuse charge, and credits cannot authorize use beyond the cap.
- East Kaweah GSA, published allocation and penalty schedulehttps://ekgsa.org/allocation/Checked 2026-09-07
Does the East Kaweah precipitation credit let me pump more groundwater?
Do not add precipitation to the groundwater budget. Keep it separate from native yield and imported groundwater credits when checking your account.
- East Kaweah GSA, published allocation and penalty schedulehttps://ekgsa.org/allocation/Checked 2026-09-07
Can I apply this East Kaweah schedule to a Tule Subbasin parcel?
No. Tule and Kaweah have different agencies and plans. Verify your current GSA, including recent district boundary changes, before estimating exposure.
- Tulare County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, groundwater sectionhttps://www.tulare.ca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/21973/638539598358870000Checked 2026-09-07
- State Water Board, Tule Subbasin agency update, April 22, 2026https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CAWRCB/bulletins/414217aChecked 2026-09-07
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