This guidance provides a systematic and defensible approach to identify GDEs, determine whether potential effects on GDEs are occurring or may occur due to groundwater conditions, and consider GDEs when setting sustainable management criteria. This guidance recommends setting sustainable management criteria based on the conditions necessary to avoid adverse impacts to GDEs and undesirable results in the basin, especially where conservation of species and habitats within GDEs is required by other laws, such as the Endangered Species Act.
This document is designed to inform local decision making, consistent with SGMA’s emphasis on local control. Rather than prescribing approaches or outcomes, this guidance provides a flexible process meant to enable GSAs and stakeholders to make decisions based on the best available science in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability.
