History

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was adopted by the California Legislation in 2014 in response to the severe over-pumping of groundwater in what was then the third year of an historic drought. That overdraft led to groundwater subsidence of several feet in some parts of the state, and the drying up of more than 1500 wells in Tulare County (accounting for more than half of dry wells in the state), leaving thousands of Californians without water from their tap.

A robust coalition of urban and rural leaders, farmers and labor unions, environmentalists, and environmental justice and tribal advocates worked for months to develop language that most agreed to support. The final legislation created a framework that requires the most heavily used groundwater basins in the state (127 of the 515 basins identified by the Department of Water Resources in their Bulletin 118 Groundwater Update) to be managed sustainably by 2042 (or 2040 for the most critically overdrafted basins).

Regulation and Process

SGMA will be implemented through a series of regulations that will be developed by DWR and adopted by the California Water Commission at a public meeting. DWR is currently developing regulations that tell local agencies how to develop Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).

• Read more about that process.
• Read the comments submitted by member groups.

Basin Boundary Regulations and Process.
The first of these regulations, adopted in October 2015, sets up a process by which local agencies or GSAs can ask to have their groundwater basin boundaries changed. Those regulations and more information about the process can be found here.

Member groups submitted the following comment letters on those regulations :

• October 13, 2015
• September 4, 2015
• May 15, 2015

Implementation Timeline

SGMA has a long implementation timeline; some required actions have been taken, but many actions will occur over several years and even decades.

September 2014 – Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is signed into law.

January 1, 2015 – Any undesirable results occurring in a basin after this date must be identified and addressed in a Groundwater Sustainability Plan.

July 2015 – Department of Water Resources (DWR) publishes a draft list of critically overdrafted basins.

September 2015 – Senate Bill 13 (Pavley) is signed into law, increasing DWR oversight of Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) formation and making other changes to the Act.

October 2015 – Emergency regulations for basin boundary adjustments are adopted by the California Water Commission.

December 2015 – DWR finalizes its list of critically overdrafted basins.

January 2016 – DWR releases draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations for public review and comment.

April 1, 2016 – Adjudicated groundwater basins submit final judgment and the first of annual reports to DWR.

June 1, 2016 – GSP regulations must be adopted by the California Water Commission.

December 31, 2016 – DWR publishes a report on water available for groundwater replenishment.

January 1, 2017 – DWR publishes best management practices for sustainable management of groundwater.

January 1, 2017 – Local agencies with alternative plans must submit them to DWR for review and approval.

June 30, 2017 – GSAs must be established for all high and medium priority basins by this date

January 31, 2020 – Basins that are designated as being in a condition of critical overdraft must submit their GSP to DWR by this date.

February 1, 2020 – high and medium priority basins in condition of critical overdraft that have not submitted a Groundwater Sustainability Plan, or whose plan is deemed unsustainable by DWR may be declared “probationary” and referred to the State Water Board, which will develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan.

January 31, 2022 – High and medium priority basins not in a condition of critical overdraft must submit their GSP to DWR by this date.

February 1, 2022 – high and medium priority basins that have not submitted a Groundwater Sustainability Plan, or whose plan is deemed unsustainable by DWR may be declared “probationary” and referred to the State Water Board, which will develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan.

April 1, 2020 and annually thereafter – GSAs in critically overdrafted basins must submit annual reports on basin management to DWR.

April 21, 2022 and annually thereafter – GSAs must submit annual reports on basin management to DWR.

April 1, 2025 and every 5 years thereafter – GSAs in critically overdrafted basins must report on their success in achieving the measurable objectives identified in their GSP.

April 2, 2025 – high and medium priority basins in condition of critical overdraft that have not reported or not achieved progress in meeting their measurable objectives, or who have been determined by DWR to be likely not to attain their Sustainability Goal, may be declared “probationary” and referred to the State Water Board for corrective action.

April 1, 2027 and every 5 years thereafter – GSAs in high and medium priority basins not subject to critical overdraft must report on their success in achieving the measurable objectives identified in their GSP.

April 2, 2027– high and medium priority basins that have not reported or not achieved progress in meeting their measurable objectives, or who have been determined by DWR to be likely not to attain their Sustainability Goal, may be declared “probationary” and referred to the State Water Board for corrective action.

April 1, 2040 – Date by which critically overdrafted groundwater basins must achieve their sustainability goal.

April 1, 2042 – Date by which groundwater basins must achieve their sustainability goal.