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The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released the Fall 2024 Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions Update, which provides a look back at groundwater conditions following California’s historic 2023 Water Year and an average 2024 Water Year. It also summarizes groundwater conditions over the first 10 years of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Implementation (2014-2024). The groundwater update released today includes groundwater sustainability plan annual report data reported by local groundwater sustainability agencies across 99 groundwater basins, which make up over 90 percent of the groundwater use in the state. This information is helping provide a clearer picture than ever before of groundwater conditions, including the amount of change in groundwater storage, groundwater extractions, and managed recharge that occurs each year.
The data in this report show that during the 2023 Water Year, groundwater levels began to rebound from the prior drought years, but only partially. In Water Year 2024, groundwater levels continued to stabilize, but it will likely require several more wet years, along with focused efforts to increase groundwater recharge and reduce pumping, to recover from the most recent and past droughts and the cumulative depletion of groundwater aquifers that has occurred over decades. Additionally, like previous dry-wet-dry climate cycles, land subsidence rates are likely to increase again during future dry periods unless long term groundwater extraction is reduced as part of ongoing sustainable groundwater management.
Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions updates include data and discussion on statewide groundwater levels, groundwater storage, recharge, land subsidence, well infrastructure and the status of California’s groundwater basins. DWR produces Groundwater Conditions updates semi-annually in spring and fall to help State and local agencies make management decisions informed by the latest conditions.
These semi-annual updates support DWR’s comprehensive California’s Groundwater (Bulletin 118) publication which is updated every five years. This suite of reports provides knowledge and understanding about California’s groundwater system that is necessary for state and local agencies to plan and implement management actions that will help to ensure long-term resiliency of the state’s groundwater supply.
For more information about this update and additional groundwater information, see the following resources:
For general inquiries, please contact: sgmps@water.ca.gov and for inquires related to the latest groundwater information, please contact: CalGW@water.ca.gov.
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