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Tule and Tulare Lake subbasins / SGMA field guide

Two bills now: your GSA's, and the State's.

Growing citrus, grapes or nuts in the Tule or Tulare Lake subbasin? Your GSA still sets your allocation and its own fees. On top of that, the State Water Board designated both subbasins probationary, so most pumpers now report every well to the Board each year and pay a state fee per well and per acre-foot. This page covers the State side. Your GSA's rules are on its own page.

Public sources checked . Confirm later changes with your GSA.

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What probation means here

Two subbasins are probationary today, and no others: Tulare Lake (designated April 16, 2024, Resolution 2024-0012) and Tule (Resolution 2024-0030 adopted September 17, 2024, effective October 3, 2024). Kern County and Kaweah were considered and returned to DWR's jurisdiction without probation (Kaweah December 2, 2025; Kern December 8, 2025). Pleasant Valley is under evaluation with no hearing date posted.

In a probationary basin the Board does not set your allocation. It requires extraction reporting, charges fees, and in some areas requires meters. Your GSA's allocation, penalties and invoices continue separately.

Who must report

Anyone who extracts more than two acre-feet a year from the subbasin, or who extracts for any purpose other than domestic use, must report. "Any agricultural or commercial use disqualifies you regardless of amount" from the de minimis exemption (GEARS User Guide, p. 13). The total is per extractor across all wells in the basin, not per well, and if you must report, you report every well, including domestic wells; inactive wells are listed as inactive and carry no fee.

No letter is no excuse: pumpers "are still required to report and pay fees even if they did not receive a notification letter" (Board FAQ).

Exclusions and carve-outs to check before you do anything. Tulare Lake: as of August 12, 2026 a court injunction stops the Board from enforcing probation in the Tri-County Water Authority GSA and Southwest Kings GSA territories, and nowhere else. "Pumpers in the Tri-County Water Authority GSA and Southwest Kings GSA are not required to install meters, report extractions, or pay fees at this time." Every other part of the subbasin still reports and pays (Tulare Lake updates page, 09/08/2026). This injunction does not apply to Tule wells.

Tule: extractions made in compliance with the Kern-Tulare Water District GSA's or Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District's management actions are excluded from reporting and fees (Resolution 2024-0030, paragraphs 5 and 6). Requests from eight other Tule GSAs were denied for water years 2025-26 and 2026-27 (Resolution 2026-0015, April 21, 2026).

Minimal-impact exclusion in both basins (April 7, 2026): persons extracting no more than 20 acre-feet a year from the subbasin, and in Tule not pumping within two miles of the Friant-Kern Canal, and in Tulare Lake not exporting groundwater outside the subbasin. The 20 acre-feet test is per person per year, not per parcel. Over 20 acre-feet, you report and pay on all of it.

The State fee

“$300 per well plus a volumetric charge of $20 per acre-foot of groundwater extracted during the preceding water year”

That is the probationary-basin fee in title 23, section 1040(b)(1) (Board SGMA booklet, January 2026); de minimis extractors who must file pay $100 per well. The Reporting and Fees page (updated 10/05/2026) also lists an "Interim Plan Rate" of $35 per acre-foot that applies if, and not before, the Board later finds the basin's problems "have not been remedied". We found no such finding for Tule or Tulare Lake as of October 5, 2026.

There is no metered discount in a probationary basin; the $10 metered versus $25 unmetered split applies to unmanaged areas, not to probationary basins. GSAs and agents do not pay the fee; the invoice goes to the extractor.

Fees are "due and payable on April 1, or thirty days after the Board issues an invoice, whichever is later" (section 1044(a)); in the initial cycle, 30 days after the invoice. Fee-waiver requests are due within 30 days of the fee due date and require that the report was filed on time; waivers cover low-income residents, public schools and water systems serving disadvantaged communities, not farms.

Deadlines

Initial reports: both basins' initial deadlines were extended to May 1, 2026 (Tulare Lake for July 15, 2024 through September 30, 2025, filed as two reports; Tule for January 1 through December 31, 2025). Both have passed.

Every later water year (October 1 to September 30): report by February 1 of the following year. The next deadline for both basins is February 1, 2027, for October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. One question to put to Board staff before filing: whether Tule's second report covers October to December 2025 again, since the initial Tule report already covered those months.

Late charge: 25 percent of the annual fee if the report is not filed by February 1, plus 25 percent for each further 30-day period, up to three times the annual fee (section 1040(c)).

Meters, or an evapotranspiration estimate

Who must meter. Tulare Lake: anyone who extracted more than 500 acre-feet in water year 2022-23 or expected to in 2023-24 had to install meters meeting title 23 section 1042 on every production well by July 15, 2024, or when extraction began if later (Resolution 2024-0012, paragraph 4.b).

Tule: extractions inside the Friant-Kern Canal Subsidence Management Area that are not de minimis must be metered (paragraph 4.b). Pumpers over 500 acre-feet had to meter by March 1, 2025 any well serving uses that an evapotranspiration method cannot measure; for irrigation they may meter or use an evapotranspiration method per parcel (paragraphs 4.c). Meter downtime is allowed if another measurement covers that period (paragraph 4.f).

The meter standard (title 23 section 1042): permanently attached to the discharge pipe with no intervening diversions or bends; calibrated to within 5 percent by volume by a qualified individual at installation and at least every five years; a totalizer that cannot run backwards. A meter installed before November 4, 2024 can meet the install-calibration rule if proof is provided within one year after reporting is triggered.

What GEARS asks per well: the measurement method is one of two values in the Board's published data, the meter option (which asks for the calibration date, within five years) or "Unmetered/Estimated" (which asks for an uploaded explanation of the method). You may use a single method per well and its parcels. The by-parcel evapotranspiration path asks for the data source (OpenET or another vendor), irrigation efficiency, surface water applied and monthly acre-feet; Tule also requires the methodology and the surface-water delivery data for each parcel in the report.

The Board's own measurement guide (January 2026) names a totalizing flow meter, the run-time method (run time times a tested flow rate), and case-by-case approaches including evapotranspiration; it does not accept power use alone.

Why it matters: a meter that misses two months, or a calibration older than five years, is reported as an estimate. Our platform keeps a daily, signed record of each meter and names on your dashboard any meter that has gone more than a week without a reading. An export of the monthly acre-feet per well in the shape GEARS asks for is coming. Filing stays with you or your designated agent.

Disputing an invoice or a finding

Invoice disputes: a petition for reconsideration must be filed within 30 days of the invoice date (Board petition page, 09/11/2026).

Fee waiver: within 30 days of the due date, and it requires that the report was filed on time.

Enforcement: if you fail to report, the Board gives notice and 60 days to file without penalty (Water Code section 5204); after that, Water Code section 5107 penalties apply (failure to file: up to $1,000 plus $500 per day after notice; knowing meter tampering or material misstatement: up to $25,000 plus $1,000 per day; meter malfunction: up to $250 plus $250 per day). Title 23 section 1046 also cites civil liability under Water Code section 1846. The daily cap written in section 1046 differs from the cap in section 1846 as amended January 1, 2025; ask counsel which applies before relying on either figure.

A daily meter record with calibration documents is the evidence a reviewer will ask for in any dispute.

What this means for a 500-acre orchard: the State fee by itself

Acreage does not set the fee; pumped acre-feet and well count do. If the orchard's wells pumped 1,000 acre-feet in the water year (2.0 acre-feet per acre, an illustration, not a crop-demand assumption) from four wells, the State fee is 4 wells x $300 = $1,200 plus 1,000 acre-feet x $20 = $20,000, total $21,200. If the Board ever applied the interim-plan rate, the volumetric part would be $35,000.

This is the State's charge alone; your GSA's allocation accounting and any overage charges are separate. Estimate only. Verify with the State Water Board and your 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, 2025 to September 30, 2026 water year, reported by February 1, 2027. The State fee is $300 per well plus $20 per acre-foot on every acre-foot reported for the water year (title 23 section 1040(b)), not a charge on use above a budget, so this block does not compute it. The SGMA calculator at /calculator carries the State fee components, per well and per acre-foot. Enter your GSA budget and accounted use here to see the volume difference your GSA will price on its own schedule.

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://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/sgma/reporting_and_fees.html

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.

Tule and Tulare Lake 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.

Tule Subbasin

Extractions made in compliance with the Kern-Tulare Water District GSA's or Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District's management actions are excluded from State reporting and fees (Resolution 2024-0030). The Alpaugh, Tea Pot Dome, Terra Bella, Porterville, Saucelito and Vandalia GSAs are also named in Resolution 2026-0015. Agency boundaries have changed; confirm your current agency before relying on an older plan.

Official Tule Subbasin source

Tulare Lake Subbasin

Not the same subbasin as Tule. As of August 12, 2026 a court injunction pauses State enforcement in the Tri-County Water Authority GSA and Southwest Kings GSA territories; the rest of the subbasin still reports and pays (Board updates page, 09/08/2026). Agencies listed as of October 5, 2026; confirm the current list and your parcel's agency with DWR's SGMA portal and the Board's Tulare Lake page.

Official Tulare Lake Subbasin source

Tule and Tulare Lake subbasins questions

My GSA already charges me for overage. Do I still pay the State?

In a probationary basin, yes, unless an exclusion applies to you. The State fee is $300 per well plus $20 per acre-foot pumped in the water year, separate from your GSA's allocation and charges.

I am in Southwest Kings GSA. Do I report in GEARS?

As of August 12, 2026, a court injunction means pumpers in the Tri-County Water Authority and Southwest Kings GSA territories "are not required to install meters, report extractions, or pay fees at this time." The litigation is pending; check the Board's Tulare Lake updates page before February 1, 2027. The rest of the subbasin still reports.

Can my consultant or adviser file for me?

Yes. The extractor creates the GEARS account and gives the agent the Correspondence ID and nothing more, never the login; the agent sends an invitation that the extractor accepts. "Pumpers are responsible for ensuring that the information reported to GEARS by their agents is accurate." Agent, owner and company names reported to GEARS are published on the state open-data portal.

My meter was calibrated six years ago. Does GEARS still count it as a meter?

Not in GEARS. "If your meter calibration is more than 5 years old, select Unmetered/Estimated" and upload how you calculated the volume.

Does the State set my allocation?

No. The Board requires reporting and charges fees; it may also require meters. Your GSA sets the allocation and its own penalties.

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.

Or send us your GSA, acres, crop and how your water is measured for a free water position check.

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