Tulare County Supervisors Vote to Join Water Authority

Board Chairman Steve Worthley has been appointed by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors to represent the County on the Upper Kings Basin Integrated Regional Water Management Authority. The Board took the action to join the Water Management Authority as a full voting member at its April 6 meeting, and gave approval to pay $7,000 in dues initially and to commit to annual dues of $5,000 for six years.

Chairman Worthley said the purpose of the Integrated Regional Water Management Authority is to promote regional water management to insure sustainable water uses, reliable supply and quality, the protection of agriculture, efficient urban development and a strong economy.

"The Authority is one of the bright spots in Valley water management," Chairman Worthley said. "By working together as a region, the member irrigation districts have been able to do many things, from successfully obtaining water planning monies to expanding ground water recharge projects.

"For example this year, which we hope will be a wet year, the Alta Irrigation District has been able to send flood waters to the Consolidated Irrigation District's recharge basins over west of Highway 99," Chairman Worthley said. "That's water that would have flowed downstream unused by any farmer, that can now be recharged and kept here for future use in our region."

The coalition of member organizations, originally called the Upper Kings Basin Water Forum, has brought in more than $11 million in funding to the region for planning and expanding local groundwater projects. In 2009, they formalized their relationship through the formation of the Upper Kings Basin Integrated Regional Water Management Authority.

Voting members of the Upper Kings Basin Integrated Regional Water Authority:

City of Kingsburg
City of Parlier
City of Reedley
City of Sanger
City of Selma
Consolidated Irrigation District
Fresno Irrigation District
Kings County Water District
Kings River Conservation District
Raisin City Water District