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Kern County Subbasin

On February 20, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) held a public hearing to consider a probationary designation for the Kern County Subbasin under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). At the hearing, the Board members heard presentations from State Water Board staff, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs), and other interested parties, and received public comments, before deciding to continue the hearing to September 17, 2025.

By continuing the hearing, the State Water Board is providing more time for Kern County Subbasin GSAs to finish resolving identified deficiencies in their groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) before the Board members decide whether to designate the Subbasin as probationary. The State Water Board's resolution to continue the hearing requests that the Subbasin GSAs provide their revised draft GSPs by June 20, 2025, to allow the GSAs a reasonable additional period of time to correct the existing deficiencies and also give the Board time to evaluate and consider those draft plans in advance of the continued hearing date.

As requested, the Kern County Subbasin GSAs submitted Draft Amended 2025 GSPs; the State Water Board invites public comment on the amended GSPs by the deadline, below. Comments will be taken into consideration by the State Water Board when determining whether to designate the subbasin as probationary. If the State Water Board designates the subbasin probationary, the Board will identify deficiencies in the GSPs and potential actions that the GSAs in the subbasin could take to address the deficiencies. If the subbasin is designated as probationary, the Board will also identify which groundwater pumpers will need to report their groundwater extractions and pay fees to the Board, separate from any reporting and fees required by the applicable GSA. The Board may also require specific pumpers to install and measure their groundwater pumping with meters or other reliable measurement methods.

Accessing the Draft Amended 2025 Kern County Subbasin GSPs

The Draft Amended 2025 Kern County Subbasin GSPs can be accessed on the State Water Board's FTP site.

  • Use the following pathway to access the PDF files: 2025 > June > 06202025_SGMA_KernGSPs

Public Comments

Submit any comments to SGMA-Kern@waterboards.ca.gov and use the subject line "Comments — Kern County Subbasin." If the file is greater than 15 megabytes in size, please submit by fax at (916) 341-5620, in multiple emails, or by mail.

Comments can also be submitted by mail:

Courtney Tyler, Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100, Sacramento, CA 95812-2000

The deadline for written comments is 12:00 noon on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

Important Dates

Probationary Hearing Continued – September 17, 2025

The continued hearing will be conducted in accordance with the Notice of Public Hearing issued on July 25, 2024.

Additional information and details on how to participate will be posted in advance of the September 17, 2025 continued hearing date. The hearing will be webcast in English, Spanish, and Punjabi. Spanish and Punjabi interpretation will be provided. For language services other than Spanish and Punjabi, please contact 916-341-5254 or OPP-LanguageServices@waterboards.ca.gov.


These public workshops were opportunities to learn more about the potential State Water Board actions and to provide public comment on the Draft Staff Report for the Kern County Subbasin. No regulatory decisions were made at these workshops. Both workshops had the same content.

See the workshop flyer for more information:

Kern County Subbasin Map
Kern County Subbasin Map

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