About - Mid Kaweah

About

Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency

The Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MKGSA) is one of the many Groundwater Sustainability Agencies within California tasked with managing groundwater to achieve groundwater sustinability by 2040. The MKGSA is located in the Kaweah Subbasin. MKGSA is working to improve groundwater management by gauging its usage and depletion, improving groundwater recharge and increasing the number and effectiveness of storage facilities for the betterment of our landowners, communities, and businesses.

The MKGSA partnering agencies include the City of Visalia, the City of Tulare and the Tulare Irrigation District. The MKGSA has developed a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the MKGSA jurisdictional area based on the best available data and input from interested parties.

MKGSA Staff Contacts are located below!

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

In September 2014, the California legislature passed a three bill law called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). SGMA directed Subbasins that were deemed overdrafted and critically overdrafted to form agencies to begin local groundwater management. The Kaweah Subbasin, within Tulare County, was classified as critically overdrafted.

Critically Overdrafted Subbasin were directed to developed Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) by January 2016. Then by January 2020, GSAs were tasked with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP), which were submitting to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). By January 2022, DWR evaluated the GSPs, and determined if they were Approved, Incomplete, or Inadequate. GSAs were evaluated by their GSPs but also by Subbasin as a whole. If Approved, the GSAs would need to implement their GSPs. If Incomplete, the GSAs were given 120 days to correct any deficiencies identified by DWR and asked to resubmit for re-evaluation. If Inadequate, the Subbasin was turned over to the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The SWRCB acts as the enforcement agency, and the Board has the authority to place a Subbasin in Probation. If a Subbasin is placed under Probation, the SWRCB shall regulate the Subbasin and implement an Interim Groundwater Management Plan until the GSAs in the Subbasin create and implement a successful GSP.

For more information on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, please visit the Department of Water Resources website.

SGMA DWR Website

Mid-Kaweah GSA Formation

The Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MKGSA) was officially formed on September 14, 2015, in response to California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Recognizing the urgent need to sustainably manage local groundwater resources, the City of Visalia, City of Tulare, and the Tulare Irrigation District partnered to form the agency through a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) MKGSA Joint Powers Agreement. Located in the heart of the Kaweah Subbasin, its formation reflected a strong commitment to local leadership, collaboration, and proactive groundwater management. Since then, MKGSA has worked closely with neighboring GSAs, Greater Kaweah GSA and East Kaweah GSA, through a coordinated planning process to meet SGMA requirements and ensure groundwater sustainability for the entire subbasin.

For more information, please visit the Board of Directors webpage.

Board of Directors

Groundwater Sustainability Agency

On November 13, 2024, the Mid-Kaweah GSA, in partnership with the Greater Kaweah and East Kaweah GSAs, developed and adopted three Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for the Kaweah Subbasin, which were reviewed by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
The document can be found on the Groundwater Sustainability Plan webpage.

GSP Webpage

Emergency Ordinance

The Emergency Ordinance to Establish an Extraction Limitation for the Mid Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency Service Area (Emergency Ordinance), adopted on May 2022, was created to support immediate action in the face of all local drought conditions and to move towards groundwater sustainability while long-term plans (like Groundwater Recharge Basins and surface water resources) were being developed. The Emergency Ordinance provides Mid-Kaweah GSA (MKGSA) with the authority to establish temporary groundwater extraction management.
The Emergency Ordinance was developed with local parties of the MKGSA Advisory Committee and local landowners. It was developed as a flexible tool to assist landowners in managing groundwater extraction on a field by field basis. This included the development of the Kaweah Subbasin Water Dashboard (Water Dashboard) and the partnership with Land IQ for evapotranspiration and precipitation data.
Please visit the Emergency Ordinance webpage, to read the document and the document amendments.

Emergency Ordinance

Groundwater Recharge Projects

Groundwater recharge basins are a key part of MKGSA’s strategy to restore balance in the aquifer. These engineered basins capture excess surface water during wet periods and allow it to soak into the ground, replenishing depleted groundwater supplies. Through its Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), MKGSA invests in projects like the Okieville Recharge Basin and Tulare-Catron Basin Recharge Project to increase recharge capacity across the region. These efforts help offset overpumping, reduce groundwater decline, and build long-term resilience to drought — all essential components of a sustainable groundwater future.

Please visit the Projects webpage.

Projects