December Meeting Updates

December 23, 2020

At-large board seat left vacant for candidates to express interest by January 15, 2021

The North Kings GSA Board determined at their December meeting to give more time for interested candidates to express interest in filling vacant board seat number seven, the at-large seat. Interested candidates should contact the North Kings GSA at [email protected] by January 15, 2021 to be considered for nomination and appointment at the January 22, 2021 Board Meeting.

The at-large seat can be filled with candidates from municipal/industrial water supply members not already seated on the board, contracting entities to the North Kings GSA, and interested parties.

Seat seven is left open by Director Steve Pickens who moved to seat three, shared by Bakman Water Company, City of Kerman, and Biola Community Services District. Pickens replaces Director Rhonda Armstrong, former City of Kerman mayor who retired earlier this year.

Stanford's Airborne Electromagnetic Survey takes flight over the foothills

An Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey conducted by Stanford University took place early December as a method to better understand the soil and geology in and around Fresno.

The flight collected useful information for the North Kings GSA when it comes to identifying areas with favorable soil and aquifer conditions for recharge projects, particularly near the foothills in transition zones between hard rock and alluvial soils.

Check out a few scenes from the flight! Click to watch on YouTube:

The flight uses equipment that can collect data up to 900 feet below ground, and provides insight to improve groundwater conditions by identifying the best locations where water could be captured to sink below the soil into the groundwater aquifer.

While researchers at Stanford compile and analyze the data, we will continue to plan projects that bring groundwater sustainability to the region for our landowners and stakeholders.

Stanford Earth: Flying the foothills

December 4, 2020 by Devon Ryan, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Stanford researchers, in collaboration with groundwater managers, are leading an airborne survey effort to investigate where water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains could recharge groundwater aquifers in California's Central Valley.

Click here to read Stanford's full article on the AEM survey

Two projects to boost groundwater levels and benefit community residents will be included in subbasin-wide grant application

Efforts are underway to apply for round one of the CA Department of Resources (DWR) SGMA Implementation Grant available to critically overdrafted subbasins. Two projects located within the North Kings GSA included in the grant application will boost groundwater levels while benefiting nearby community residents who rely on groundwater for drinking water supply.

North Kings GSA's member agency Fresno Irrigation District Savory Pond Project will include a 20-acre basin to recharge an additional 900 acre-feet of groundwater annually. An acre-foot is enough water to cover a football field one foot deep.

Fresno Irrigation District Savory Pond Project

The multi-benefit project will improve groundwater levels, increasing water supply reliability for growers, nearby domestic well owners, and community residents in the Shady Lakes Mobile Home Park, a Disadvantaged Community (DAC).

Offering more groundwater recharge capacity, also included in the application is North Kings GSA's member agency City of Kerman Lyons Park Basin modifications. The modifications will provide an additional 135 acre-feet of annual recharge to benefit DAC residents and those in the surrounding area.

Groundwater recharge is a primary tactic for improving groundwater conditions by which surface water, rain and snowmelt, is captured to sink below the soil into the groundwater aquifer. Groundwater recharge projects are not only critical to achieving a sustainable groundwater supply by SGMA's 2040 sustainability deadline, they also bring a secure water supply to landowners and community residents who rely on wells for freshwater, whether for irrigation or drinking.

The North Kings GSA is working with Fresno Irrigation District and City of Kerman to gather project details for the application submittal, due to DWR January 8, 2021. The application will include two additional projects in the Kings Subbasin, located in the Kings River East and South Kings GSAs. The Fresno Irrigation District will be the applicant on behalf of the Subbasin.

The SGMA Implementation Grant is funded by Proposition 68, with this first round providing $26 million for critically overdrafted basins. Another $77 million will be available in round 2 for medium- and high-priority (including critically overdrafted) basins. The North Kings GSA is in the Kings Subbasin, considered under SGMA to be critically overdrafted.

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The North Kings GSA wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

North Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency

C/O Fresno Irrigation District

2907 S Maple Avenue

Fresno, CA 93725