The Kern County Subbasin (DWR Basin No. 5-022.14) is in the southern San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Basin (5-022) and the southern portion of the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region. Covering about 2,834 square miles (1,782,321 acres), it is the largest groundwater Subbasin in California and shares boundaries with four other groundwater subbasins (refer to Figure 5‑1). To the north are Tulare Lake Subbasin (DWR Basin 5-022.12), Tule Subbasin (DWR Basin 5-022.13) and Kettleman Plain Subbasin (DWR Basin 5-022.17), and to the south is the White Wolf Subbasin (DWR Basin 5-022.18).
The Subbasin is entirely contained within Kern County. Land use designations are predominantly agricultural and industrial oilfields, followed by urban, suburban and rural communities. The largest metropolitan area is a medium-sized urban population in the City of Bakersfield with suburban sprawl in the unincorporated Kern County. The Subbasin also has several small urban areas and rural communities. A comprehensive, multisource dataset is maintained to tabulate land uses across the entire Subbasin. The primary land uses in the Kern Subbasin are:
- 657,000 acres of active agriculture (36.2% of plan area)
- 600,000 acres of native land (33.1% of plan area)
- 256,000 acres of idle agriculture (14.1% of the plan area)
- 149,000 acres of urban, suburban, and rural communities (8.2% of the plan area)
- 91,000 acres of industrial oil fields (5.0% of the plan area)
- 62,000 acres of other uses (3.4% of the plan area)
Water Sources
Hydrologic systems in the Subbasin include numerous rivers, lakes, and canals, many of which are used to supply water to the entire Subbasin. The prominent natural surface water body in the Subbasin is the Kern River, which originates in the Sierra Nevada to the northeast of the Subbasin. Canals and conveyance systems are used to supply water for beneficial uses throughout the Subbasin.
Historical overdraft of the Kern County Subbasin’s groundwater was noted as early as the mid-1940s. Due to chronically declining groundwater levels, water districts were formed to protect surface water rights to the Kern River and provide a means for contracting through the SWP and Central Valley Project (CVP). Diversions from the Kern River and imported surface water enabled water districts to operate conjunctive use programs where surface water available in wet years could be used to replenish groundwater storage, a vital source of supply during dry years. Access to surface water also supports water banking, recovery, and exchange projects to optimize available water supplies. In more recent years, water districts are adding recycled water sources to their water supply portfolios. This section of the Plan describes the available water sources to each district.
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), enacted by the California legislature in 2014, requires local agencies to form Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) who are responsible for managing basins sustainably through the development and implementation of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). Under SGMA, GSPs must contain certain elements, the most significant of which include: a Sustainability Goal; a description of the area covered by the Plan (i.e., the “Plan Area”); a description of the Basin Setting, including the hydrogeologic conceptual model (HCM), historical and current groundwater conditions, and a water budget; locally-defined Sustainable Management Criteria (SMCs); monitoring networks and protocols for each applicable sustainability indicator; and a description of projects and/or management actions (P/MAs) that will be implemented to achieve and maintain sustainability. SGMA also requires active stakeholder outreach to ensure that all beneficial uses and users of groundwater have the opportunity to provide input into the GSP development and implementation process. This website is the portal to all groundwater management activities for the Kern Subbasin GSAs.
The Kern Subbasin shares SGMA compliance data through their Data Management System, which gives public access to view and download information related to groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs), groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs), and data collected to comply with SGMA reporting requirements. Through this portal, you can view data related to groundwater levels, water quality, and land subsidence.
comments@KernGSP.com should be forwarded to the Public Comments email distribution list.