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This is an email from the Department of Water Resources’ Sustainable Groundwater Management Office. |
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Please do not reply directly to this email; for more information or general inquiries, please contact: sgmps@water.ca.gov. |
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This is a courtesy email to inform you that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) returned the Kern County Subbasin to the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) jurisdiction under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) on December 8, 2025.
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The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) returned the Kern County Subbasin to the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) jurisdiction under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) on December 8, 2025.
On September 17th, the State Water Board approved Resolution No. 2025-0029 directing the Board’s Office of Sustainable Groundwater Management staff to send a letter to DWR formalizing the return of the Kern County Subbasin to DWR’s jurisdiction. This directive was contingent upon Board staff’s review of the adopted 2025 Kern County Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for consistency with the Draft 2025 GSPs and changes needed to address three priority deficiencies that staff identified in the Draft 2025 GSPs. Following its review, Board staff determined that the adopted 2025 GSPs were consistent with the Draft 2025 GSPs and satisfactorily resolved the three identified priority deficiencies. Accordingly, Board staff returned the subbasin to DWR’s jurisdiction. Local groundwater sustainability agencies will continue managing groundwater in the subbasin under DWR’s jurisdiction.
For more information about the Kern County Subbasin, please visit the State Water Board’s Kern County Subbasin webpage.
To receive SGMA-related updates from DWR, please visit DWR’s SGMA webpage to sign up.
Questions? Contact the State Water Board SGMA Program at sgma@waterboards.ca.gov or 916-322-6508.
 Map of the Kern County Groundwater Subbasin
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