Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project

Applicant	Groundwater Banking Joint Powers Authority
Status	MCED Issued
Project Type	Groundwater Storage
Public Benefits	Ecosystem Improvements, Emergency Response
Total Project Cost	$353,750,000
Maximum Conditional Eligibility Determination (MCED)	$89,123,415
Early Funding	None Requested

Projected Timeline

Environmental Documentation: The project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared in 2020. An addendum to the EIR for a turnout on the California Aqueduct is expected in Spring 2027. The Pulse Flow EIR, certified by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), needs to be adopted by the project.

Permits and Approvals: Exchange agreements, turnout agreements, conveyance easements, Clean Water Act permits, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Streambed Alteration Agreement, and an Incidental Take Permit are all expected to be complete by early 2028.

Public Benefit Contracts: Contracts with CDFW for pulse flows on the Feather River, and DWR for emergency response benefits are expected to be completed in Fall 2026.

Non-Program Funding: The GWJPA will fund the remaining costs of the project.

* Completion dates are Commission staff’s best estimates based on applicants’ quarterly reports and other public information as of July 30, 2025.

Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project Map

The Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project (Kern Fan Project) would develop a regional water bank in the Kern Fan area to recharge and store in the Kern County Groundwater Sub-basin of the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Basin up to 100 thousand acre-feet (TAF) of unallocated Article 21 water available from the State Water Project (SWP) operation. Recovery and use of the stored water would provide public and non-public benefits.

The Kern Fan Project provides groundwater storage and would be operated so that in wet years, the project partners, Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) and Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District (Rosedale), would divert unallocated SWP Article 21 supplies for storage in the Kern Fan Project. IRWD and Rosedale would share first priority rights to 75 percent of the stored water for water supply purposes. The remaining 25 percent of the stored water would be available to support ecosystem benefits. This 25 percent of the water would be used to provide short-term ecosystem pulse flows from Lake Oroville in exchange of the same amount of water extracted from the groundwater storage that would be used as Table A water.

In October 2021, the applicant for the Kern Fan Project was changed from the Irvine Ranch Water District and Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District to the Groundwater Banking Joint Powers Authority. Please see the request documents for additional information.