The North Fork Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency (NFKGSA or Agency) recently formed with the primary purpose of compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). As a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), the Agency may develop, adopt, and implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for sustainable management of groundwater for that portion of the Kings Subbasin (Subbasin) underlying the Agency. The newly formed Agency needs to implement an assessment rate structure that is sufficient to fund Agency operations and required activities pursuant to SGMA. The NFKGSA will develop, in coordination with other GSAs in the Kings Subbasin, a GSP that provides for achieving groundwater sustainability in the Kings Subbasin of the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Basin underlying the Agency by January 2040. SGMA requires that a GSP be submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) by January 31, 2020 since the Kings Subbasin is considered a high priority, critically overdrafted subbasin.

Based on the Agency’s needs, the NFKGSA Board of Directors is requesting landowner approval to levy assessments to generate sufficient revenue to fund both annual Agency operation costs and expenses associated with the development and implementation of a GSP. The annual operational costs have already begun and are used to fund Agency operations and activities required by SGMA, including retaining consulting firms and legal counsel to provide Agency oversight and lead the Agency through the steps for SGMA compliance. Expenses consist of administrative support, GSP development, and GSP implementation, with GSP development occurring over the next several years and GSA administration and GSP implementation anticipated to be on-going expenses. The administrative annual expenses include an assumed annual 3% inflation factor. The assessments are planned to apply equally to all assessable lands within the Agency’s boundaries.