\u201cIf I were to give myself a grade or the board a grade, and no offense to anybody here, I don\u2019t think we did a great job this last year,\u201d Board Member Paul Gillum said during the Feb. 5 meeting.<\/p>\n
Then late last week, a job posting for Mills\u2019 job, the general manager position, appeared in the Kings County Farm Bureau\u2019s newsletter. The annual salary was listed as between $150,000 and $200,000.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s not clear why Mills was terminated, he was highly criticized in 2024 after the Tulare Lake subbasin, which covers most of Kings County, was placed on probation<\/a> by the state Water Resources Control Board for lacking an adequate groundwater management plan.<\/p>\n Probation comes with significant fees \u2013 $300 per well and $20 per acre foot pumped \u2013 and reporting requirements.<\/p>\n At the May 2024 El Rico Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) meeting, board member George Wurzel said the subbasin\u2019s last-ditch effort<\/a> to submit a coordinated groundwater plan was \u201chijacked by that individual over a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll make a motion that El Rico GSA separate itself from the subbasin due to what Dennis Mills did in the Mid-Kings to our GSA and our plan,\u201d Wurzel said during El Rico\u2019s 2024 meeting.<\/p>\n Wurzel referred to Mills refusing to sign onto the effort because it allowed an additional 10 feet of subsidence, which was requested by El Rico.<\/p>\n At the time, a letter<\/a>, circulated by the Kings County Farm Bureau and signed by more than 200 landowners, called for Mills\u2019 resignation, along with former Kings County Water District board members. While the board and Mills did not resign, the board decided to leave the Joint Powers Authority agreement that made up Mid-Kings River GSA.<\/p>\n Since then, the Kings County Water District has experienced board member turnover.<\/p>\n Mills had worked for the district since 2014.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative.<\/a><\/p>\n SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org.<\/a> Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 8:11 AM.<\/p>\n