Bringing Water and Land Use Together

Local Government Commission | April 11th, 2019

In 2005, the California Legislature passed new laws that enable communities to join together to adopt Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) policies and practices.

In 2005, the California Legislature passed new laws that enable communities to join together to adopt Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) policies and practices. This comprehensive planning approach considers water resources in the context of an interconnected watershed with a network of regional governance, rather than as a combination of fragmented parts. Unfortunately, the IRWM program is dominated by the water sector and in most regions has not pursued alignment with land use. Similarly, the Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) mandated through SB 375 establish a framework for aligning land use practices (predominantly housing and transportation) across jurisdictions within a larger geographic region. Yet very few SCSs have taken water resources into account. While water management and land-use planning remain highly fragmented across the state, we are making progress toward a more integrated approach, especially when setting new state-level policies, regulations and guidance. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is a leap forward in this direction. For the first time, local land use agencies have an opportunity to be full partners with water agencies in shaping groundwater governance. It is too soon to determine how well these two sectors are integrating under SGMA, but early results are promising.

Buena Vista Groundwater Sustainability Agency Amended Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Buena Vista Groundwater Sustainability Agency (BVGSA) | July 27th, 2022

The revised and resubmitted information presented in this amended GSP has been prepared in response to DWR’s Incomplete Determination of the 2020 Groundwater Sustainabi

The revised and resubmitted information presented in this amended GSP has been prepared in response to DWR’s Incomplete Determination of the 2020 Groundwater Sustainability Plans Submitted for the San Joaquin Valley - Kern County Subbasin. This GSP, including all modifications, has been adopted by the Board of the BVGSA and will be implemented accordingly. All changes included in this version of the amended GSP are redlined. This version is accompanied by a clean version of the GSP where all redlined edits and additions have been accepted. Due to size, this file has been divided. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Bulletin 118 - California's Groundwater Update 2013

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 15th, 2015

California’s Groundwater Update 2013 compiles and analyzes readily available groundwater information to characterize California’s groundwater basins, aquifers, and we

California’s Groundwater Update 2013 compiles and analyzes readily available groundwater information to characterize California’s groundwater basins, aquifers, and well infrastructure. It also presents data and analysis related to groundwater monitoring efforts, aquifer conditions in response to extraction, groundwater management practices, and conjunctive management programs. It expands and enhances baseline groundwater information on a regional scale, identifies challenges associated with sustainable groundwater management, and helps guide implementation of diverse resource management strategies. The set of data, information, and analysis developed can help local and regional groundwater managers, as well as individual well owners, better understand California’s hidden and commonly misunderstood resource. This Bulletin has been uploaded in the following separate files reflecting hydrologic regions and appendices. Chapter One / Introduction  Chapter Two / State-wide Update  Chapter Three / North Coast Chapter Four / San Francisco Bay Chapter Five / Central Coast Chapter Six / South Coast  Chapter Seven / Sacramento River Chapter Eight / San Joaquin River Chapter Nine / Tulare Lake Chapter Ten / North Lahontan Chapter Eleven / South Lahontan Chapter Twelve / Colorado River Appendix A: Methods and Assumptions Appendix B: CASGEM Basin Prioritization Appendix C: Groundwater Use Data 2010-2015 Appendix D: Conjunctive Management Survey Appendix E: Change in Groundwater in Storage Appendix F: Subsidence

Bulletin 118: California's Groundwater (1975)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 1st, 1975

Water has long been a key factor in California's social and economic development.  The water has come about equally from groundwater (water stored underground in permeab

Water has long been a key factor in California's social and economic development.  The water has come about equally from groundwater (water stored underground in permeable rock or soil formations) and from surface water.  Although many reports describing the statewide surface resource have been published, very few reports have been devoted to a statewide groundwater appraisal. This report provides a summary of the vast amount of information available on individual groundwater basins.  It also describes past, present, and possible future management of the groundwater resource.

Bulletin 118: California's Groundwater (1980)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | January 1st, 1980

Ground water management is a major issue in California.  The Governor's Commission to Review California Water Rights Law, in its December 1978 report, recommends a new g

Ground water management is a major issue in California.  The Governor's Commission to Review California Water Rights Law, in its December 1978 report, recommends a new ground water management law for California. During the 1978 and 1979 sessions of the California Legislature, similar bills were introduced but to date the only related legislation enacted was S8 1505 (Nejed1y, 1978) which directed the Department to identify the ground water basins of the State, including those subject to critical conditions of overdraft. Basins are to be identified on the basis of geological and hydrological conditions and consideration of political boundary lines whenever practical. The ground water basin boundaries in this report can provide a basis for ground water management, should the Legislature enact such a program. New ground water management legislation is needed. While some local agencies are managing ground water effectively with the limited powers available to them, increased authority would permit more extensive local development and implementation of plans for management of the storage space in the underlying ground water basin, ground water extraction, and artificial recharge. Ground water management is an institutional and a political process. The ground water basin boundaries identified in this report respond in large part to the views of agencies expressed in the workshops and public hearings. Three hundred fifty seven ground water basins are identified in this report as shown in Bulletin 118, California's Groundwater, 1975. Thirty-seven basin boundaries differ from those in Bulletin 118 (1975). Of these, twenty-two were in accord with local agency comments, and three were selected from among conflicting local comments. Pursuant to Section 10004 of the California Water Code, this report is submitted to the Legislature and shall become part of the California Water Plan.

Bulletin 118: California's Groundwater (2003)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 1st, 2003

Despite California?s heavy reliance on groundwater, basic information for many of the groundwater basins is lacking. Particular essential data necessary to provide for bo

Despite California?s heavy reliance on groundwater, basic information for many of the groundwater basins is lacking. Particular essential data necessary to provide for both the protection and optimal use of this resource is not available. To this end, the California Legislature mandated in the Budget Act of 1999 that DWR prepare:  " ...the statewide update of the inventory of groundwater basins contained in Bulletin 118-80, which includes, but is not limited to, the following: the review and summary of boundaries and hydrographic features, hydrogeologic units, yield data, water budgets, well production characteristics, and water quality and active monitoring data; development of a water budget for each groundwater basin; development of a format and procedures for publication of water budgets on the Internet; development of the model groundwater management ordinance; and development of guidelines for evaluating local groundwater management plans. This report is organized into the following topics: Groundwater is one of California?s most important natural resources, and our reliance on it has continued to grow (Chapter 1). Groundwater has a complex legal and institutional framework in California that has shaped the groundwater management system in place today (Chapter 2). Groundwater management occurs primarily at the local water agency level, but may also be instituted at the local government level. At the request of the Legislature, DWR has developed some recommendations for a model groundwater management ordinance and components for inclusion in a groundwater management plan (Chapter 3). Groundwater has had a flurry of activity in the Legislature and at the ballot box in recent years that will affect the way groundwater is managed in California (Chapter 4). Groundwater programs with a variety of objectives exist in many State and federal agencies (Chapter 5). Groundwater concepts and definitions should be made available to a wide audience (Chapter 6). Groundwater basins with a wide range of characteristics and concerns exist in each of California?s 10 hydrologic regions (Chapter 7).

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

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 22nd, 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 su

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.

Bulletin 118: California's Groundwater Update 2020 (draft)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 1st, 2021

Groundwater is a precious and limited resource that is used in meeting the needs of California’s large and small urban areas, rural groundwater users, irrigated agricul

Groundwater is a precious and limited resource that is used in meeting the needs of California’s large and small urban areas, rural groundwater users, irrigated agriculture, and the environment. Since the last California’s Groundwater (CalGW) Update in 2003, there has been significant changes to land use, water use, water application practices, and water allocations. In addition, the effects of climate change have affected California’s reliance on groundwater. It is expected that there will be additional changes in land use, water use, adjustments in water allocations, and that climate change will continue to affect the environment, thus elevating the importance of the reporting in CalGW Updates.  According to the last comprehensive report, California’s Groundwater Update 2003 (CalGW Update 2003), California’s reliance on groundwater was approximately 30 percent during a wet-to-average precipitation water year and approximately 40 percent during dry periods. Since then, the percentage of groundwater reliance has increased to between 30 and 40 percent during above normal to-wet years and to as much as 58 percent during dry periods (California Department of Water Resources 2018).

Bulletin 39-A, South Coastal Basin Investigation, Records of Ground Water Levels at Wells for the Year 1932, Seasonal Precipitation Records to and including 1931-32

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | January 2nd, 1933

Bulletin 39-I, South Coastal Basin Investigation, Records of Ground Water Levels at Wells for the Year 1940, Precipitation Records for the Season 1939-40

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 1st, 1941