North Kings GSA extends deadline to register remaining wells

North Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency officials made a final push to register roughly 1,000 wells inside its boundaries by extending the mandatory-registration deadline to Friday, Jan. 30. The board voted to grant the extension after months of outreach and registration activity, and a $100-per-well late fee will take effect beginning Feb. 1 for wells not entered into the registry.

The extension affects owners of agricultural, domestic, industrial and public-system wells across the North Kings service area. The GSA first adopted the mandatory registration policy in April 2025, requiring roughly 7,000 wells to be logged. Since then, about 6,000 wells have been registered, including more than 3,000 domestic wells and some 2,100 agricultural wells. The remaining unregistered wells represent a mix of private and commercial water points that GSA managers say are critical for accurate planning.

An accurate registry is central to implementing projects and regulations identified in the groundwater sustainability plan the Department of Water Resources approved in 2023. North Kings officials warn that gaps in well data complicate efforts to target recharge projects, craft pumping limits and identify priority areas for assistance. “If you rely on a well for your water supply, you also rely on the long-term availability of that water supply,” North Kings GSA executive officer Kassy Chauhan said in a video message to landowners. “For years the greater Fresno area has extracted and used more groundwater than we are able to replenish. These tools and programs are designed to help address that overdraft so that we have that shared water source available long into the future and we can meet our sustainability goals.”

North Kings GSA is one of seven GSAs serving the Kings subbasin, a groundwater region that stretches across Fresno County from the San Joaquin River on the north to the Tulare County line on the south. The basin-wide approach aims to coordinate local landowners, growers, public water systems and agencies to reduce long-standing overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley.

For Fresno County residents, the immediate consequence is practical and financial: register by Jan. 30 to avoid the $100 late fee and ensure a well is counted in future groundwater decisions. For farm operators and small water systems, inclusion in the registry helps ensure data used to design recharge sites, monitoring networks and potential pumping controls is complete.

The GSA has urged any remaining well owners to consult North Kings GSA well registration resources and register before the deadline. With the deadline extension now in place, managers will move from data collection to implementing the plan’s actions that aim to preserve groundwater for households and Valley agriculture alike.