State Board Sets $50K-$250K Application Fee for Groundwater Agencies Seeking Sanction Relief

Groundwater agencies looking to dodge state sanctions under SGMA’s “good guy” exemption now face $50,000 to $250,000 just to submit an application — a cost-recovery mechanism the state Water Resources Control Board approved at its Sept. 15 meeting.

The fee tiers scale with the percentage of groundwater an agency pumps from its subbasin and are designed to cover state staff review costs, according to David Ceccarelli, branch chief with the Division of Water Quality. Without the fee, Ceccarelli said, “those costs are effectively borne by all SGMA fee payers.”

The board’s decision follows its $1.3 million expenditure evaluating exemption requests from the Tule subbasin — where only two of 10 applicants were granted relief. Kern-Tulare Water District and Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District avoided the new application fee but now pay $12,500 annually to maintain their exemptions, equal to 25% of their pumped groundwater totals.

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For agencies that miss the exemption cut, the alternative is probation: $300 annual well registration fees plus $20 per acre-foot pumped, stacked on top of existing local groundwater-agency assessments. Two San Joaquin Valley subbasins — Tule (southern Tulare County) and Tulare Lake (most of Kings County) — are currently under probation.

Compliance remains uneven. Of $7 million billed to Tule subbasin farmers in August, $2.2 million has been paid, $3.3 million is under protest by 85 farmers, and $1.9 million from 107 landowners remains outstanding. State data suggests only 65% of Tule farmers reported their groundwater use; in neighboring Tulare Lake subbasin, fewer than 35% reported, and invoices are paused pending an Oct. 6 court hearing.

The Breakdown

• Fee structure: $50,000–$250,000 application fee, scaled to the agency’s share of subbasin pumping. Approved exemptions then pay 25% of pumped totals annually to maintain status.
• Rationale: State staff says the fee covers review costs that would otherwise be distributed across all SGMA fee payers statewide.
• Success rate: Two of 10 Tule subbasin agencies won exemptions; the rest remain under probation with per-well and per-acre-foot charges.
• Payment status: Tule subbasin farmers have paid $2.2 million of $7 million billed; $3.3 million is contested, $1.9 million outstanding. Tulare Lake invoices are on hold.

What This Means for You

Fresno-area farmers and groundwater agencies now face a cost-benefit calculation: front $50,000–$250,000 for a shot at exemption (with a 20% historical approval rate based on the Tule subbasin case), or accept probation fees that compound annually. The state’s decision to shift review costs onto applicants rather than the general SGMA fee pool means agencies seeking relief are now paying for the bureaucratic review process.

What to Watch

The state collected $1.3 million reviewing Tule subbasin exemptions and approved two. At $50,000–$250,000 per application, the Water Board is now charging agencies upfront for a process with an 80% rejection rate in the only test case on record.

Delano-Earlimart succeeded in part because the district imports more surface water than its growers extract from the aquifer. Kern-Tulare farmers extracted just 437 acre feet from 37 wells in 2023. Eight other groundwater agencies in the Tule subbasin sought exemptions earlier this year but were denied.

The compliance picture shows challenges in enforcement. Two-thirds of Tule farmers reported pumping data; fewer than half in Tulare Lake subbasin. Probation has produced $5 million in unpaid or contested invoices and a court hearing to decide whether the fees are collectible.