At a May 15 meeting with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in Fresno, district leadership learned that DWR is fundamentally changing its expectations around subsidence. Despite SGMA providing a 20-year runway to sustainability, DWR now considers subsidence an irreparable harm requiring immediate action — meaning reduced groundwater pumping on a much faster timeline. District leadership characterized this as DWR "moving the goalposts to a new stadium." For growers, this could mean earlier-than-expected allocations or pumping limits. District leadership noted that even if all white lands (areas outside the district) pumped only at sustainable levels, the sub-basin is still approximately 10–12% over sustainable yield.
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