Sustainable Groundwater Management

According to the [Sustainable Groundwater Management] act, local agencies must develop and implement groundwater-sustainability plans for managing and using groundwater without causing “undesirable results” related to the following:

• Groundwater-level declines.
• Groundwater-storage reductions.
• Seawater intrusion.
• Water-quality degradation.
• Land subsidence.
• Interconnected surface-water depletions.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) uses data collection, modeling tools, and scientific analysis to help water managers plan for and assess hydrologic issues that can cause “undesirable results” associated with groundwater use. This information helps managers understand trends and investigate and predict effects of different groundwater management strategies.