Sustainable Groundwater Management Program Groundwater Sustainability Plan Assessment Staff Report – Big Valley Basin (No. 5-004)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 26th, 2023

Sutter Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Sutter County | January 28th, 2022

With a 20-year implementation period and a 50-year planning horizon, the Sutter Subbasin GSP is considered to be a “living” document. The Sutter Subbasin Groundwater

With a 20-year implementation period and a 50-year planning horizon, the Sutter Subbasin GSP is considered to be a “living” document. The Sutter Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) will implement this GSP using adaptive management strategies to respond to challenges related to groundwater sustainability, including monitoring of conditions in the Subbasin according to a prescribed schedule and implementing projects and management actions (PMAs). Conditions will be evaluated on an annual basis (or more frequently, as warranted) utilizing monitoring data collected as part of this GSP, as well as other publicly available sources, and PMAs will be added or revised in the GSP annual reports. During five-year GSP evaluations, the GSP will also be reviewed and revised, as needed, as more is known about the effects of current and future conditions. Due to size, this file has been divided into three parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Temescal Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Temescal Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency | January 27th, 2022

Wishing to provide a framework for cooperative groundwater management and SGMA compliance, the City of Corona (Corona), City of Norco (Norco), and the Home Gardens Coun

Wishing to provide a framework for cooperative groundwater management and SGMA compliance, the City of Corona (Corona), City of Norco (Norco), and the Home Gardens County Water District (HGCWD) executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2017 establishing the Temescal Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (Temescal GSA). In August 2017, the Temescal GSA became the GSA for the Basin by submitting a formation notice to DWR. While Corona is leading this effort, the GSP will be developed jointly among the three agencies, with coordinated implementation toward sustainable management. Due to size, the file has been divided into four parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Governance Conference: Research and Practice Synthesis Report 2018

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | June 8th, 2018

“The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Governance Conference: Research and Practice,” held at the UC Davis in February 2018, assembled 55 social science research

“The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Governance Conference: Research and Practice,” held at the UC Davis in February 2018, assembled 55 social science researchers as well as practitioners from across the state to discuss the ongoing implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The California Legislature passed SGMA in 2014. SGMA required the formation of new groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) by June 2017 in order to develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for 127 medium- and high-priority groundwater basins by 2020 and 2022. With such a large task at hand, and given the importance of groundwater to California’s public health, environment, and economy, strengthening collaboration across research teams as well as between researchers and practitioners is crucial to increasing the capacity for learning about governance processes and to bridging the science-policy divide in order to support the creation of effective governance institutions. The goals of this report are to synthesize key lessons learned about SGMA at the nexus of research and practice, and to create a roadmap and research agenda going forward. Sharing information and knowledge among research teams enables a comparative perspective that cannot be achieved by one team alone. Furthermore, perspectives from practitioners inform research directions, focus attention on relevant issues and knowledge gaps, and build relationships among the SGMA community for more collaborative applied research. Conference discussions focused on discovering what has been learned in the first three years of SGMA implementation and GSA development, identifying high priority questions for the next stage of GSP development, sharing research methods, and coordinating research activities.

Tools for Assessing Groundwater-Surface Water Connectivity Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Stanford University | February 14th, 2019

In 2014, California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which requires local agencies to develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (G

In 2014, California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which requires local agencies to develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) in all groundwater basins designated by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) as high or medium priority by 2020 or 2022, depending on basin condition. For the first time in California’s history, agencies managing groundwater under SGMA must assess the impacts of groundwater pumping on water supply and surface water flows and avoid “significant and unreasonable adverse impacts on beneficial uses of the surface water.” SGMA’s legal and regulatory requirements pertaining to interconnected surface water – defined in SGMA as, “surface water that is hydraulically connected at any point by a continuous zone to the underlying aquifer and the overlying surface water is not completely depleted.” – represent a significant step forward in recognizing the interconnected nature of surface water and groundwater and for managing this resource accordingly. However, because groundwater-surface water connectivity was not a common management consideration prior to the enactment of SGMA, many basins lack data or models or technical capacity to adequately characterize interconnected surface water (ISW) and evaluate the impacts of groundwater pumping on these systems. Thus, meeting legal and regulatory requirements related to ISW may be hindered by a lack of information about both the location and timing of such waters, as well as the many beneficial uses and users that they support. In March 2018, Water in the West, The University of Victoria, Foundry Spatial, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Environmental Defense Fund co-hosted a workshop on tools to assess ISW under SGMA. The workshop, which included a small, select group of hydrologists, water managers, water lawyers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academia, focused on four main areas: 1) Accounting for beneficial uses and users in GSP development and implementation; 2) Identifying physical or analytical approaches for characterizing, quantifying and monitoring ISW; 3) Using hydrological modeling to assess the effects of groundwater pumping on ISW and streamflow depletions; and 4) Understanding the functionality and use of decision support tools from other jurisdictions This report summarizes key findings from the one-day workshop and a short questionnaire completed by workshop participants during the day. A list of workshop attendees, the workshop agenda and workshop questionnaire can be found in Appendices A-C, respectively.

Tracy Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

County of San Joaquin GSA | November 1st, 2021

The Tracy Subbasin boundaries follow the Old River on the northwest, the Coastal Range on the southwest and south, and the San Joaquin River on the east. The southeast bo

The Tracy Subbasin boundaries follow the Old River on the northwest, the Coastal Range on the southwest and south, and the San Joaquin River on the east. The southeast boundary of the Subbasin, along the San Joaquin-Stanislaus county line, follows irregular water district boundaries. The Subbasin is almost entirely with San Joaquin County but includes a small triangular portion of Alameda County. About one-half of the Subbasin is a mix of Delta islands (mostly agriculture) and waterways while the other half is comprised of urban and agricultural communities (Non-Delta areas).

Tri-County Water Authority Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Tri-County Water Authority | December 18th, 2019

Tulare Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Kings County Farm Bureau | January 29th, 2020

Tulare Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan -- Amended

Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency | July 26th, 2022

The Tulare Lake Subbasin submitted a single GSP in January 2020 to the Department of Water Resources (DWR). DWR was required to determine whether the GSP conformed to the

The Tulare Lake Subbasin submitted a single GSP in January 2020 to the Department of Water Resources (DWR). DWR was required to determine whether the GSP conformed to the specific requirements of SGMA. In a letter dated January 28, 2022, DWR determined that that the GSP is incomplete. DWR stated that the GSP was considered incomplete as it “does not define undesirable results or set sustainable management criteria for groundwater levels, subsidence, and water quality in the manner consistent with SGMA and the GSP regulations.” Upon receiving the incomplete determination, the Subbasin had 180 days to address the identified deficiencies and submit a revised GSP by July 27, 2022. The GSAs are submitting this 2022 Amended GSP to address the three deficiencies outlined in the determination letter. The 2022 Amended GSP consists of clean and redline strike out versions of the 2020 GSP and the attached 2022 GSP Addendum. The 2022 GSP Addendum was prepared to specifically address the incomplete determination letter from DWR. Sections of this document have been edited since the original submittal in 2020 and direct the reader to the Addendum for further details. Due to size, this file has been divided. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Tule Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Tule Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency | December 14th, 2021

On September 16, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a three-bill legislative package, composed of Assembly Bill (AB) 1739 (Dickinson), Senate Bill (SB) 1168 (Pav

On September 16, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a three-bill legislative package, composed of Assembly Bill (AB) 1739 (Dickinson), Senate Bill (SB) 1168 (Pavley), and SB 1319 (Pavley), collectively known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which is codified in Section 10720 et seq. of the California Water Code. The purpose of this Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP or Plan) is to bring the Klamath River Valley – Tule Lake Subbasin (Tule Lake Subbasin or Subbasin), a medium priority basin, into sustainable groundwater management by 2042, which would meet the requirements of SGMA.