Subsidence from over pumping is still a problem in the Tulare Lake subbasin covering most of Kings County. Opinions on how much sinking is too much are still sharply divided. As are views on how much pumping is too much and whether groundwater can be moved from one area to another. Yet, the El Rico Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) voted June 9 on several measures it expects will reunite the fractured region. That includes an effort to write a single, subbasin-wide groundwater plan rather than each of the five GSAs writing their own. What’s changed? One man was fired from a water district in the northern reaches of the county.

Other groundwater news:

• The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): Napa County’s new groundwater fees to take effect July 1
• ABC15 (Phoenix): Year after millions of chickens buried in Tonopah, residents still have questions about groundwater
• Water Replenishment District: News release: WRD and the City of Torrance break ground on the Torrance Groundwater Desalter Expansion Project