The Kaweah subbasin is the second San Joaquin Valley region to successfully escape state intervention, managers learned today.  In a phone call with state Water Resources Control Board staff, managers of Kaweah’s three groundwater sustainability agencies got the news that their efforts to rewrite their groundwater management plans were good enough for staff to recommend that they return to Department of Water Resources oversight. … The Chowchilla subbasin successfully made the u-turn from state enforcement back to oversight in early June. Fukuda said Kaweah will follow much the same path as Chowchilla. The Water Board will consider the staff recommendation for Kaweah at a meeting in the fall, when it can pass a resolution formally sending Kaweah back to DWR. Returning to DWR oversight guarantees landowners freedom from additional fees under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which mandates that overdraft stop and aquifers reach balance by 2040. 

Other groundwater regulation news:

• Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Opinion: Hear that, world? Arizona found a bipartisan way to save a lot of water
• Hoodline Phoenix (Ariz.): Arizona charts new course in water conservation with bipartisan groundwater credit legislation​​
• Pinal County: News release: Bipartisan bill strengthens water security while enabling sustainable growth in Pinal and Maricopa