The State Water Resources Control Board announced Monday it is appealing a Kings County judge’s preliminary injunction that has forced the state to hold off on measures intended to corral excessive groundwater pumping in the region. The Water Board filed a notice to appeal Kings County Superior Court Judge Kathy Cuiffini’s Sept. 13 ruling. The appeal will be considered at the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno. According to a Water Board statement, the appeal “… seeks to rectify a broad injunction that prevents it from taking action stemming from the probationary designation of the critically overdrafted Tulare Lake Subbasin – delaying state oversight and exacerbating the harmful impacts experienced by local communities, California Native American tribes, farmers and the environment due to excessive groundwater pumping.”