The California Department of Water Resources (Department) today completed a month-long release of determinations for groundwater sustainability plans in eight low- and very low-priority basins. This announcement marks another major milestone for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) – completion of initial groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) reviews for all groundwater basins with GSPs. SGMA encourages and authorizes the submittal and implementation of a groundwater sustainability plan for a basin designated low- or very low-priority but does not mandate it. SGMA also identifies that low- and very low-priority basins are not subject to state intervention under Chapter 11 of SGMA. The Department’s responsibilities under SGMA remain the same, regardless of a basin’s prioritization. The assessments can be viewed on the SGMA Portal. SGMA lays out a process for continuous improvement, gathering information to fill data gaps, updating plans, carrying out projects and actions, and promoting science-based adaptation. 

In summary, the Department has approved plans in the following basins: Arroyo Santa Rosa Valley in Ventura County; Atascadero Area in San Luis Obispo County; Bear Valley in San Bernadino County; and Bedford-Coldwater in Riverside County. These plans are approved with recommended corrective actions that the groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) will need to address in their next periodic evaluation. The Department’s approval of a GSP identifies that the plan substantially complies with the GSP Regulations and SGMA law, relying upon the best available science and information, and whether implementation of the plan is likely to achieve the basin’s sustainability goal over the 20-year planning horizon of SGMA.  

The Department issued incomplete determinations for the following basins: Castac Lake Valley in Kern County; Owens Valley in Inyo and Mono Counties, Riverside-Arlington in Riverside County, and San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County. While there is no timeline for GSAs in low- and very-low priority basins to respond to an incomplete determination, SGMA requires that a basin shall be sustainably managed within 20 years; therefore, Department staff recommend that the GSAs provide the Department with a schedule of when deficiencies will be addressed within 180 days and when the revised GSP will be resubmitted.  

The Department encourages all SGMA interested parties to review the assessments, and related materials, accessible on our GSP webpage. For any SGMA-related questions, please email the Department at: sgmps@water.ca.gov.