California’s Key Step Toward Sustainable Groundwater Management

Image: logo of California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR)

Critically overdrafted groundwater basins are required to submit groundwater sustainability plans to the state by January 31, 2020 that outline how the basins will reach sustainability over the next 20 years

Local agencies representing 19 of the state’s most stressed groundwater basins are required to submit plans to the state by midnight tonight on how they will manage their basins to achieve sustainability by 2040. Several plans were submitted early and were posted online today, starting a public comment period which closes on April 15, 2020. The remaining plans will be posted online in the coming weeks for a 75-day public comment period.

Overpumping of groundwater has led to a variety of negative effects including reduced groundwater levels, seawater intrusion, and degraded water quality. It has also led to subsidence, which causes damage to critical water infrastructure. In some cases, years of overpumping have left entire California communities and farms without safe and reliable local water supplies.

“Groundwater is a critical component of the state’s water supply resources,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). “California’s groundwater basins must be managed for long-term sustainability rather than for short-term need.”

California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act […]

Full article: THIS JUST IN … California Marks Key Step Toward Achieving Sustainable Groundwater Management