Member Article

On February 18, 2016, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released draft regulations that outline the requirements for local public agencies and groundwater sustainability agencies to manage and regulate California’s groundwater basins under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). These highly anticipated regulations are a key step in shaping how California's groundwater basins are to be managed and regulated at the local level. The draft regulations outline a process for evaluating and implementing groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) or alternatives to such plans, as well as coordination agreements between local agencies in high- and medium-priority basins. Under the draft regulations, GSPs must identify when and where groundwater conditions cause problems (e.g. seawater intrusion and subsidence), the management actions that local agencies will implement to prevent the problems, milestones to track plan progress, and a description of how local agencies will monitor groundwater and how monitoring data will be used to improve conditions in the basin.

DWR is accepting public comments on the draft regulations through March 25, 2016 and will hold three public meetings and a statewide webinar to receive comments. The meetings are tentatively planned between March 21 and March 25. Information on the specific dates, times, and location will be released on DWR’s website. By June 1, 2016, DWR is required to adopt final regulations for evaluating and implementing GSPs to achieve the legislative intent of SGMA.