State Water Board staff have proposed an interim plan for the Tule Subbasin whose first phase would halt pumping on every acre within at least two miles of the Friant-Kern Canal — and the agencies that would live under it have about seven weeks to put a local alternative in front of the Friant Water Authority. In Kings County, a judge told growers they're likely to win on the merits, then applied the pay-first rule and left the fees in place, with one carve-out that changes things for two GSAs. And DWR's latest position analysis has San Luis Reservoir filling early enough that 2026 carryover is at risk the moment the calendar turns.

Also this week: the Modesto Sub-Basin's refined sustainable yield comes in 32,000 acre-feet below the number growers are currently allocated against, Napa County groundwater fee rates fall about 55%, Fria ...