Kings County farmers are either underreporting how much groundwater they pump – by a lot. Or bad data is to blame. According to the state Water Resources Control Board, farmers in the Tulare Lake subbasin, most of Kings County, have reported less than 35% of their actual groundwater extractions under a mandate aimed at measuring how much is being pumped in the critically over drafted region. Baloney, said one groundwater agency, pegging compliance at closer to 90%. “Bad data would be my official statement,” said El Rico Groundwater Sustainability Agency chair Jeof Wyrick at the board’s August 11 meeting. … The data dispute has arisen over pumping that was required to be reported to the Water Board via its online portal called GEARS. 

Other groundwater news:

• San Francisco Chronicle: A California wine region’s long-simmering battle against the government is bubbling over
• Eos: Blog: California’s drought irreversibly damaged Sacramento Valley aquifers