Tule Basin Watershed Coalition
The Tule Basin Watershed Coalition works through cooperative conservation efforts to address the challenges posed by groundwater decline, land subsidence, and water resource conflicts.
About the Tule Basin Watershed Coalition
The Tule Basin Watershed is a vital resource that impacts the lives of countless individuals and communities. From providing drinking water to supporting agriculture and wildlife habitats, it's crucial to come together as a community to address these issues and find sustainable solutions. The Tule Trust’s mission rests on the creation of strategic partnerships that integrate habitat enhancement with farming into one sustainable landscape. Since its founding, the Tule Trust has worked in collaboration with local irrigation districts, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), other conservation organizations, nonprofits, and wildlife agencies to achieve that mission.
In support of this mission, the Trust organizes and currently facilitates regular meetings of the Tule Basin Watershed Coalition (TBWC). TBWC member groups are collaborating to build an inventory of projects, and are identifying opportunities for their planning and implementation. The group has also identified programs that together provide a wholistic approach that address the significant groundwater level declines over the past several decades, which affects water reliability, quality, and land subsidence, severely impacting underserved communities, wildlife-dependent ecosystems, and irrigated agriculture.
Mission Statement
The Tule Basin Watershed Coalition is dedicated to fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders to enhance water supply sustainability, improve water quality, and restore ecological resilience. Through cooperative conservation efforts, we aim to address the challenges posed by groundwater decline, land subsidence, and water resource conflicts, ensuring a reliable and healthy watershed for our communities, ecosystems, and agricultural producers.
Our vision is a thriving, sustainable Tule Basin where communities, agriculture, and ecosystems coexist in harmony through proactive water and land use management. By promoting collaboration, innovative solutions, and ecological stewardship, we aim to secure the long-term health and resilience of our watershed, ensuring a vibrant future for all who depend on its resources.
Vision Statement
Projects
Watershed Coordinator
Previous funding for this position came from the California Department of Conservation, and resulted in the initiation of the Capinero Creek upland habitat restoration project, the Lower Deer Creek Watershed Plan by NRCS, and other Watershed wide planning efforts. This project is currently funded by a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART grant.
Tule Subbasin Water Resilience Portfolio
Stakeholders from the Tule Basin Watershed Coalition (TBWC) and partners, including Tule Basin Land and Water Conservation Trust, Audubon California, Sequoia Riverlands Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Allensworth Progressive Association, Milk Producers Council, Pixley Irrigation District GSA (PID) and Tri-County Water Authority GSA (TCWA), identified a suite of projects that together will enhance water resiliency, habitat restoration, and community and tribal co-management goals in the Tule Subbasin. These projects include groundwater recharge and demand management, upland habitat restoration and repurposing, floodplain reconnection, sustainable agriculture, and community water supplies. Totaling $295 million, the TBWC prepared and submitted the concept proposal to the San Joaquin Valley Water Collaborative Action Program for consideration.
Agricultural Sustainability
The Tule Trust seeks a future of productive and sustainable agriculture in Tulare County, one of the nation’s top ag producing counties in the U.S. Groundwater use reductions due to SGMA and limited surface water supplies are placing increasing pressure on producers. The Tule Trust supports technical assistance and grant programs for farmers that improve soil health, irrigation efficiency, and environmental sustainability. It organizes workshops and other farmer outreach towards these goals.
Tule Floodplain Working Group
Facilitated by the Watershed Coordinator, a subset of the TBWC is exploring opportunities to identify and develop riparian habitat and floodplain reconnection projects along the three primary drainages within the Tule Subbasin, in support of the CVJV 2020 Implementation Plan goals for Riparian Habitat. The group is guided by recently completed Hydrology and Hydraulic studies (done under the Multi-Benefit Land Repurposing Program) covering Tule River, Deer Creek, and White River.
Central Valley Joint Venture Tulare Basin Working Group
The Trust is engaged in this local group to facilitate project development and integration of habitat goals across the Watershed.
