California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | October 14th, 2025
Summary
The Kaweah Subbasin is managed by three GSAs: East Kaweah GSA, Greater Kaweah GSA, and Mid-Kaweah GSA (collectively, the Kaweah GSAs or GSAs). Each GSA wrote their own GS
The Kaweah Subbasin is managed by three GSAs: East Kaweah GSA, Greater Kaweah GSA, and Mid-Kaweah GSA (collectively, the Kaweah GSAs or GSAs). Each GSA wrote their own GSP, East Kaweah GSP (EKGSP), Greater Kaweah GSP (GKGSP), and Mid-Kaweah GSP (MKGSP). The three GSPs are tied together by a coordination agreement. The primary use of groundwater within the subbasin is irrigated agriculture; in 2020, irrigated agriculture used more than 94 percent of the groundwater in the subbasin (2024 Coordination Agreement, Appendix 1, p. 27). The subbasin is critically overdrafted, which means that groundwater is pumped out of the subbasin faster than it is recharged by precipitation and other sources. On average, the amount pumped from the subbasin in a year is 104,000 acre-feet greater than the amount recharged (2024 GKGSP p. 1-1). Overdraft can cause the land surface to sink, potentially damaging infrastructure and reducing aquifer storage. In addition, overdraft threatens groundwater levels and drinking water quality and could have disparate impacts on communities that rely on shallower groundwater levels. Due to historic and political factors, many of these are economically disadvantaged and communities of color. As of 2022, the subbasin has an estimated population of 296,632 people with most of the population being Hispanic or Latino (60.6%) followed by white (31%) (American Community Survey, 2022). The average annual household income within the subbasin in 2022 is $71,000, which is significantly less than the state average of $91,551 (ibid.).