Growers in southern Fresno County are facing a possible 137% increase in land assessment fees that the Consolidated Irrigation District hopes will help it nearly double its recharge capacity and capture more Kings River flood water.

Consolidated, which covers about 141,000 acres in central southern Fresno County, is holding a Proposition 218 election on Aug. 5 to to decide whether to raise its assessment fees from $55 per acre to a maximum of $126 per acre for growers who get surface water. The election is required before increasing land assessment or pumping fees.

Those fees will fund new projects to gather more flood water off the Kings River during wet years and repair aging canals. Consolidated also acts as the Central Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency and is tasked with managing the area’s groundwater to bring aquifers into balance by 2040, per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Annual Overdraft of 40,000 Acre-Feet

Despite a few good years recently, the district is facing an annual overdraft of 40,000 acre-feet, according to the district’s website.

To combat that overdraft, Consolidated plans to use the increased assessment fees, if approved, to buy 1,000 acres of land to build recharge basins that would capture 100,000 acre-feet of additional flood water. The district currently owns and manages 1,500 acres of recharge facilities.

If the district is successful in the election, it could charge landowners the maximum of $126 per acre of land. However, its plan is to only charge $74 per acre in 2026, to start, explained General Manager Phil Desatoff.

“We don’t want to hit them real hard,” Desatoff said of small growers who make up a majority of Consolidated’s area.

Consolidated is also looking for grants to keep fees at the proposed $74 level next year.

“The board’s goal is not to get there if we can find alternatives,” Desatoff told SJV Water.

Cautious Optimism Proposal Will Pass

Desatoff is “cautiously optimistic” about the election.

“Most of the growers I talk to, they understand it,” he said. “Especially growers that farm outside of our district and see what other people are paying, they see our opportunities here, those growers get it.”

According to Consolidated’s website, assuming a landowner farms 20 acres and uses 2.3 acre feet of water per acre, per year, the proposed assessment increase would cost that farmer $2,520 a year and they wouldn’t have to fallow any land.

When the district looked at other districts using those same assumptions, it found farmers must pay:

• $3,364 a year and fallow eight acres under Mid-Kaweah GSA requirements.
• $4,350 and fallow 13.8 acres in the Madera County GSA portion of the Delta-Mendota subbasin.
• $12,000 a year and fallow 14.8 acres per assessments and pumping restrictions in Westlands Water District.
• Consolidated’s proposed fee increase already has support from the Kings County Water District, which owns and leases out 54 acres of farmland in Consolidated.

The Kings County Water District Board unanimously voted to support the proposed assessment fee increase during its July 3 meeting.

“I was pretty impressed with how they’ve handled things. They’ve done a good job seeking water,” said Kings County Water District Board member Paul Gillum who said he contacted Consolidated after learning that the district was holding a Prop. 218 election.

“It tells me that they’re thinking in the right direction,” Desatoff said of the Kings County Water District’s decision.

A public hearing will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, at the Kearney Ag Station, 9240 S. Riverbend Ave. in Parlier. Ballots will be collected at that meeting. Ballots that come in after the meeting will not be valid.

Consolidated Irrigation District also acts as the Central Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency within the Kings subbasin in central Fresno County. (CKGSA)

About the Author

Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative. 

About SJV Water

SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org.