Bulletin 118: California’s Groundwater (Interim Update 2016)

A new era for California’s groundwater began in September 2014 with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). SGMA established a path for the sustainable management of groundwater through the formation of locally organized groundwater sustainability agencies and locally developed groundwater sustainability plans.

The purpose of this interim update is to provide up-to-date information on groundwater basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft, groundwater basin boundaries, and basin prioritization. That information is essential to the successful implementation of SGMA, including the timely formation of groundwater sustainability agencies and the development of groundwater sustainability plans.