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Map ViewerDevils Den Water District - 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY, 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY
Devils Den Water District - 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY, 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY
A. Applicant Information
Requesting Agency Information
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| Agency Name: | Devils Den Water District | ||
| Address: | 27234 Bouquet Canyon Road | ||
| City: | Santa Clarita | Zip: | 91350-2173 |
| Work Phone: | (661) 297-1600 | Cell Phone: | |
| Email: | mail@clwa.org | Fax: | |
| Revision Request Manager Information
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| Person Name: | Rick Viergutz | ||
| Address: | 27234 Bouquet Canyon Road | ||
| City: | Santa Clarita | Zip: | 91350-2173 |
| Work Phone: | (661) 297-1600 | Cell Phone: | |
| Email: | rviergutz@scvwa.org | Fax: | |
B. Description of Proposed Boundary Modification
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Internal Jurisdictional modification to reassign a portionof Basin No. 5-22.14 to Basin No. 5-22.10.
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- Jurisdiction Internal
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A narrative overview is attached as "DDWD item B3.pdf"
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- 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY
- 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY
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New subbasin names are not proposed
C. Initial Notification and Combination of Requests
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Yes
Local Agency Potential Basin(s)/Subbasin(s) Kern-Tulare Water District 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY , 5-022.12 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - TULARE LAKE Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District 5-022.13 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - TULE , 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY Kings River Conservation District 5-022.12 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - TULARE LAKE , 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY , 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY Tejon-Castac Water District 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY Devils Den Water District 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY , 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY Olcese Water District 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY West Kern Water District 5-022.14 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - KERN COUNTY Pleasant Valley Water District 5-022.10 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - PLEASANT VALLEY , 5-022.09 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - WESTSIDE -
No
D. Required Documents for All Modifications
The Devil's Den Water District has filed a Notice of Exemption (NOE) for the proposed Internal Jurisdictional modification with Kern County, Kings County, and LA County. A copy of the NOE has been uploaded.
F. Notice and Consultation
Ten local agencies were contacted as part of outreach for this effort. The local agencies likely to be affected are those within the DDWD, and those adjoining the DDWD. Kern County and Kings County are within DDWD, the Green Valley Water District boundary is in contact with the northern boundary of DDWD, and the Berrenda Mesa Water District boundary is in contact with the south east boundary of DDWD. Figure D3 (attached) graphically shows the local agencies likely to be affected.
First, DDWD staff initially made contact with the Green Valley Water District and Berrenda Mesa Water District to discuss the basin boundary issue to determine if they had concerns, and if the had suggestions for other entities DDWD staff should contact. Second, DDWD staff contacted both the County of Kern, and County of Kings. Third, DDWD staff was contacted by Pleasant Valley Water District in the northern part of the Pleasant Valley Subbasin re its proposed boundary adjustment. DDWD used much of Pleasant Valley's contact information from its efforts for consitency in communicating with agencies and districts in the Pleasant Valley Subbasin. Fourth, staff talked with local consultants in the area. Finally, staff developed a outreach list with ten agencies and two consultants who are actively involved in SGMA in Kings and Kern County. An attached PDF shows agencies contacted.
A table is attached that summarizes the nature of conversations with affected or interested agencies. Email correspondence referred to in the attached table is also attached.
The proposed basin boundary modification was discussed at a publicly noticed March 10, 2016 Castaic Lake Water Agency, Water Resources and Outreach Committee Meeting. The proposed basin boundary modification was discussed at a publicly noticed March 23, 2016 Devil's Den Water District Board meeting. At that meeting, the DDWD adopted a resolution in support of initiating the basin boundary modification request.
No written comments regarding the proposed boundary modification were received by DDWD. One letter of support, and one email of "no objection" were received and are uploaded in a following section. No written or verbal comments were received opposing the proposed boundary modification.
G. General Existing Groundwater Management
All requests for jurisdictional modification pursuant to Section 342.4 MUST include responses to the following questions.
The current state of groundwater extraction in DDWD is characterized by somewhat limited groundwater extraction. The lessee currently grows crops on approximately 1000 acres. Most of the cropped area at the present time is dry land farming, although there is some groundwater extraction for irrigation. The groundwater extraction wells at the site are older wells and they are not all equipped for groundwater extraction. Additionally, the lessee participates in the Westside Water Quality Coalition.
Groundwater level trend decline has slowed since the 2006 publication of the Bulletin 118 description for the Pleasant Valley Subbasin. The 2006 description identified rates of decline of approximately 4 feet per year from 1960 through 2000. CASGEM data compiled within the DDWD area during preparation of this basin boundary modification request show groundwater level decline rates from 2000 through 2012 that averaged about 1.4 feet per year in Kings County and 0.7 feet per year in Kern County. Although the decline rates appear to be higher after 2012, they do not exceed the 4 foot/year rate currently described in Bulletin 118. See the file named "CASGEM hydrographs_Kings and Kern Counties.pdf" for a table and hydrographs of CASGEM well data inside the DDWD area.
Providing the proposed internal jurisdictional boundary modification is approved by the Department of Water Resources, we anticipate two key benefits to groundwater management. The first benefit would be that the DDWD would be able to more fully engage in SGMA related activities in the Kettleman Plain. The second benefit would be that the development of a GSA and GSP would be simplified some in Kern County, through removing the DDWD from an existing lengthy list of agencies required to engage in SGMA. The Kern Groundwater Authority recognizes the benefit of the DDWD proposed basin boundary adjustment and issued a letter of support. These concepts are discussed more fully in item B3.
See the discussion in Item B-3 regarding the Kern County Subbasin. As discussed, the local agencies in that subbasin (including the Kern Groundwater Authority) support the proposed boundary modification. The proposed modification is expected to help Kern County and is not expected to adversely affect their ability to sustainably manage the Kern County Subbasin.
As discussed above for Item G-1, hydrographs prepared from CASGEM data indicate that the rates of groundwater declines from 2000 through 2012 were lower than the rates reported for the prior four decades in the 2006 Bulletin 118 description for the Pleasant Valley Subbasin. The more rapid rate of decline that appears to occur in some wells after 2012 is thought to arise from the current drought in the region. However, with the possible exception of one well (which appears to possibly have had an anomalous measurement), the recent decline rates are not greater than was observed from 1960 through 2000. See the file named "CASGEM hydrographs_Kings and Kern Counties.pdf" for a table and hydrographs of CASGEM well data inside the DDWD area.
Negative potential impacts to state programs are not anticipated. We believe the proposed basin boundary modification benefits both Kern County and the Kettleman Plain by keeping DDWD whole and thereby allowing for more effective engagement in the SGMA process.
With regards to CASGEM, the proposed boundary modification will promote more systematic groundwater elevation monitoring across the DDWD area as the Kettleman Plain GSA forms.
H. Local Support
All requests for boundary modification must include the following:
Section F3 of this document contains lengthy documentation regarding identification of affected agencies, outreach, and requests for input. Email correspondence included DDWD staff contacting affected agencies, seeking input, and inquiring about affected agencies support or opposition. Selected documentation is attached. DDWD staff forwarded the March 23, 2016 DDWD meeting notice and staff report to affected agencies.
The Kern Groundwater Authority provided a letter of support. The Green Valley Water District provided a letter of support to DDWD and to the Department of Water Resources. Dudley Ridge Water District provided an email stating no objections. Given the short time frame, neither Agency was able to create a formal resolution. Other entities provided verbal support as detailed in the attached Communication Notes file.
No opposition to the proposed basin boundary modification was received.
I. Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model
Requests for boundary modification, must include a document or text to a clearly defined hydrogeologic conceptual model demonstrating each of the following:
The conceptual model for the Kettleman Plain is summarized in the Bulletin 118 description from 2006 for the Pleasant Valley Subbasin and in the December 1997 "Draft Groundwater Management Plan for the Kettleman Plain and Sunflower Valley Groundwater Basins" (Draft GMP).
The principal aquifers in the Kettleman Plain are the Holocene alluvium (Qal), the Plio-Pleistocene (Quaternary/Tertiary) Tulare Formation (QTt), and possibly the upper part of the San Joaquin Formation (Tsj). The Draft GMP identifies two deep test wells (D and E) that were constructed in the Kettleman Plain and used to construct geologic cross sections for the Draft GMP. These borings encountered each of these principal aquifer units. The D test well terminated in the Tsj, and the E test well two underlying Tertiary bedrock units (the Etchegoin Formation [Te] and the Jacalitos Formation [Tj]).
The lateral boundaries of the Pleasant Valley Subbasin are surrounded throughout most of the perimeter by Tertiary continental and marine sediments of the Coast Ranges and the west flank of the Kettleman Hills. The eastern boundary of the Pleasant Valley Subbasin abuts the Westside and Tulare Lake subbasins. As shown in cross-section D-D' from the Draft GMP, the Holocene alluvium is thought to extend southerly from the Kettleman Plain into the Antelope Plain in Kern County, but the Tulare Formation and the San Joaquin Formation are thought to be truncated in the southernmost portion of the DDWD service area and not extending into the Antelope Plain.
As discussed in Bulletin 118, groundwater recharge occurs as seepage from the various streams that cross the Pleasant Valley Subbasin, plus as a result of outdoor uses of water in and near the cities of Coalinga and Avenal. The Draft GMP identifies excess agricultural water percolation as an additional source of groundwater recharge and also identifies the following groundwater discharge mechanisms: lateral subsurface outflow (in the Holocene alluvium), groundwater pumping, and possibly crop evapotranspiration.
As discussed in Section 2.4.1 of the Draft GMP, the Holocene alluvium and in part the Tulare Formation are substantially more permeable than the underlying consolidated rocks of marine origin. Although the San Joaquin Formation generally is not a primary source of groundwater production in the Pleasant Valley Subbasin, it is included in the Bulletin 118 description as one of the principal aquifer units in this subbasin. Accordingly, the bottom of the subbasin is defined as the top of the consolidated rock units underlying the San Joaquin Formation, including the Etchegoin Formation (Te), the Jacalitos Formation (Tj), and the Monterey Formation (Tm).
L. Technical Studies for All Jurisdictional Modifications
Requests for a jurisdictional boundary must attach or provide a URL or upload a file for the following:
Existing coordination is described by ongoing communication with other water agencies in the area. Most recently significant communication has been taking place regarding the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) issues and coordination. The Kern County Groundwater Agency collects groundwater elevation data at DDWD and this data helps to coordinate an understanding of groundwater elevation regionally. The DDWD coordinates with and is a member of the Westside Water Quality Coalition.
Moving forward, DDWD will continue to coordinate with others as the SGMA efforts regionally and locally. Most recently the Green Valley Water District has signaled its intent to develop a Kettleman Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency. The DDWD service area would be within this area and DDWD would engage in that process as appropriate. The current basin prioritization in the Kettleman Plain (low priority basin) does not require development of a groundwater sustainability plan; however if in the future a Groundwater Sustainability Plan would be required, the DDWD would engage in that process as appropriate.
DDWD will coordinate with other basins too as necessary to comply with SGMA. The proposed internal jurisdictional boundary, if approved, may create a need for coordination with the relatively small upland portion of the Kern County Subbasin in the Sunflower Valley area. There may be opportunities for this to be simplified in the future, such as through reassigning the portion of the Kern County Subbasin in the Sunflower Valley Area, to the Pleasant Valley Subbasin. Such an approach could further streamline and benefit SGMA efforts.
