Tag: SGMA

Groundwater Exchange website

February 6, 2023 No Comments

The Groundwater Exchange is a central, collaborative, and publicly accessible online resource center connecting water managers, water users, and community members with tools and resources to support the design and implementation of effective Groundwater Sustainability Plans under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. ​The Groundwater Exchange is a program of the California Water Library and is a project of the Multiplier, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps us protect and foster a healthy, sustainable, resilient, and equitable world.

Check out the “groundwater recharge” page (https://groundwaterexchange.org/groundwater-recharge/) for resources specific to Flood-MAR.

DWR’s SGMA Best Management Practices and Guidance Documents

February 2, 2023 No Comments

This link is a one-stop shop for DWR’s SGMA-related Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Guidance Documents to assist Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), Water Code Section 10729(d), directed DWR to “publish on its internet Web site best management practices for the sustainable management of groundwater,” by January 1, 2017. DWR developed and published 2 categories of information – Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Guidance Documents – to assist Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).

BMPs and Guidance Documents are not substitutes for GSP Regulations or the statutory provisions of SGMA. With the exception of 2 specific BMPs addressed in the GSP Regulations (Section 352.2, Monitoring Protocols and Section 352.4, Data and Reporting Standards), SGMA and the GSP Regulations provide no direction or limitation with respect to what type of BMPs and Guidance Documents should be developed to assist GSAs with making sustainable groundwater management decisions. DWR may develop additional BMPs and Guidance Documents, or make revisions to the existing publications, as needed.

Groundwater and Stream Interaction in California’s Central Valley: Insights for Sustainable Groundwater Management

February 2, 2023 No Comments

This report was undertaken to provide technical information on the state of streams and groundwater resources in the Central Valley. The findings of this report were used to support the need for what is now known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The intent was to illustrate the physical inter-relationship between the surface and groundwater resources and the potential impacts that groundwater pumping has had and is currently having on our rivers and streams to demonstrate the need for sustainable groundwater management.

Based on the scale of the data used in this study, the findings contained herein should not be used as a definitive source in determining whether a particular stream or river reach should or should not be considered as an interconnected surface water for SGMA purposes. Further study at a finer scale would be necessary for such a determination.

SGMA Data Viewer

February 2, 2023 No Comments

As part of DWR’s technical assistance to Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), other water managers, and the public, DWR has developed the SGMA Data Viewer. The SGMA Data Viewer provides access to groundwater-related datasets that are organized by the requirements of SGMA and the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations for the purposes of supporting GSP development and implementation.

Currently, regional and statewide groundwater information is publicly available, however this information is collected and disseminated through a variety of portals and applications. The SGMA Data Viewer provides centralized data access that will improve coordination across the State and help GSAs meet the requirements of SGMA and the GSP regulations.

This site includes historical and current data on:
Groundwater levels
Groundwater storage
Water quality
Land subsidence
Interconnected surface water
Water budgets
Hydrogeological conceptual models
Reference layers

California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

January 20, 2023 No Comments

The historic passage of SGMA in 2014 set forth a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. SGMA is comprised from a three-bill legislative package, including AB 1739 (Dickinson), SB 1168 (Pavley), and SB 1319 (Pavley), and subsequent statewide Regulations. In signing SGMA, then-Governor Jerry Brown emphasized that “groundwater management in California is best accomplished locally.”

SGMA requires local agencies to form groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) for the high and medium priority basins. GSAs develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) to avoid undesirable results and mitigate overdraft within 20 years.

DWR serves two roles to support local SGMA implementation:

1) Regulatory oversight through the evaluation and assessment of GSPs

2) Providing ongoing assistance to locals through the development of:

Best management practices and guidance
Planning assistance
Technical assistance
Financial assistance