Entering a New Era of Sustainable Groundwater Management

By Paul Gosselin, DWR Deputy Director for Sustainable Water Management

In recognition of Groundwater Awareness Week, it’s incredible to think about the tremendous work California has accomplished since our legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014. Work that wouldn’t have been possible without the partnership and effort of over 250 local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs). To our partners, thank you for your time and dedication to writing over 100 groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) that protect drinking water wells, reduce land sinking, and improve groundwater supplies for our communities.

The accomplishments don’t stop there. California is now collecting more groundwater data than ever before, providing a better understanding of groundwater conditions and ultimately leading to better management decisions. Additionally, water supply reliability is improving as we’ve continued to invest in local recharge projects. In 2023 alone, 4.1 million acre-feet of water was added to underground aquifers through managed efforts.

In California, groundwater provides 41 percent of the state’s total supply in a normal year and up to 60 percent during droughts. About 85 percent of Californians rely on groundwater for some portion of their water needs. Understanding the critical role groundwater plays in our water supply, SGMA is intended to act as a framework to empower our local partners to drive strategies that best suit their region to ultimately meet SGMA’s primary goal: to bring California’s groundwater basins to sustainable conditions by the early 2040s.

As we close the chapter on our first decade, laying foundational elements of groundwater sustainability, we begin a challenging phase of implementing the plans we’ve adopted. But what does that mean? Central to SGMA is the local control aspect and the concepts of adaptive management. Implementation of the GSPs will certainly present a new understanding of how the groundwater systems function and methods to better manage our groundwater. However, we will likely need to adjust our plans and management actions. DWR is focused on supporting local GSAs to achieve their sustainability goals. We intend to work collaboratively with GSAs as they implement their plans providing technical, planning, and financial assistance to the extent possible.

For critically overdrafted basins, we are 5 years (25 percent) into plan implementation and are currently providing a periodic assessment on the progress of plan implementation. Communities are expressing challenges and impacts to their businesses and homes as steps are made toward sustainable conditions as part of the local plans implementation. Challenges like these are likely to continue to emerge, especially in those basins with areas that are entirely groundwater-dependent. California is investing in programs to enhance surface water supplies, conveyance, and groundwater recharge in addition to supporting the transition of land uses to provide multiple benefits and allow for greater opportunity to transition economic and environmental uses that meet the basin’s groundwater sustainability goals. The Department of Conservation’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development’s Jobs First Initiative support local community transitions. DWR’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Program will be supported by the recently passed Proposition 4, which authorized bonds be sold to benefit safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, and protecting communities and natural lands from climate risks.

DWR continues to provide support to help GSAs implement their plans through improved communications utilizing facilitation support for sensitive or challenging meetings, and translation services to improve critical information sharing.  Additionally, DWR will release guidance on depletions of interconnected surface water and subsidence later this year. Our goal with these two documents is to provide our local partners with the information and direction they need to understand how to address the impacts of overdraft on our groundwater basins.

As SGMA moves into this next phase of implementation, there will be adjustments and challenges ahead. But through local actions, wise management, and collaboration, the path forward will lead to progress toward a sustainable groundwater future for California.