Groundwater Exchange

DWR Releases Decisions for Groundwater Management Plans in Critically Overdrafted Basins

By Maven / March 6, 2023

Department of Water Resources Will Transmit Six Basin Determinations to State Water Board, Beginning State Intervention Process From the Department...

DWR Releases Decisions for Groundwater Management Plans in Critically Overdrafted Basins

DWR Awards $25 Million in LandFlex Grants to Protect Drinking Water Wells

By Maven / March 6, 2023

The Department of Water Resources (DWR), in coordination with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, today awarded $25 million...

DWR Awards $25 Million in LandFlex Grants to Protect Drinking Water Wells

The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program: Envisioning the social, economic, and environmental possibilities of fallowed lands

By Maven / March 6, 2023

At the January meeting of the California Water Commission, Keali’i Bright, Assistant Director of the Department of Conservation’s Division of...

The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program: Envisioning the social, economic, and environmental possibilities of fallowed lands

California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aquifers. But When It Came, Some Couldn’t Use It

By Maven / March 6, 2023

It was exactly the sort of deluge California groundwater agencies have been counting on to replenish their overworked aquifers. The...

California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aquifers. But When It Came, Some Couldn’t Use It

Did winter storms replenish California’s depleted groundwater supplies? Here’s what data shows

By Maven / March 6, 2023

Winter storms have filled California’s reservoirs and built up a colossal Sierra snowpack that’s nearly twice its normal size for...

Did winter storms replenish California’s depleted groundwater supplies? Here’s what data shows

Amid well-drilling and pumping, calls grow for stronger California water regulation

By Maven / March 6, 2023

In 2014, California adopted a landmark law aimed at combating excessive groundwater pumping, especially in farming areas of the San...

Amid well-drilling and pumping, calls grow for stronger California water regulation

SGMA in the news

By Maven / March 6, 2023

Anger showed at Tehama County well registration program workshop “A workshop on Tehama County’s well registration program drew many residents...

DWR’s Innovative Underground Aquifer Mapping Project Reaches Major Milestone: Data Now Available for Entire Central Valley

By Maven / February 9, 2023

The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) innovative Statewide Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Survey Project has now released AEM data for the...

DWR’s Innovative Underground Aquifer Mapping Project Reaches Major Milestone: Data Now Available for Entire Central Valley

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SGMA Articles from Maven’s Notebook

Notebook SGMA Implementation Posts

GUEST COMMENTARY: SGMA is Failing. Time to Fix ItGuest commentary by Michael DeLapa, executive director of LandWatch Monterey County, and Chelsea Tu, executive director of Monterey Waterkeeper In 2014 California finally joined other western states by enacting groundwater management legislation. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires local governments to produce plans to bring overdrafted groundwater basins into balance within 20 years. But in Monterey County, SMGA is failing. Over-pumping continues to degrade aquifers essential to agriculture and thousands of urban users. Three times since 2017, public agency […]

NOTICE: Public Comment Period Opens for a GSP Periodic Evaluation: Monterey County 180/400 Foot AquiferFrom the Department of Water Resources: A Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Periodic Evaluation that has recently been submitted to the Department is now posted on the DWR SGMA Portal. The GSP Periodic Evaluation is open to public comment for 75 days after the posted date. Below in the table is a link to the submitted GSP Periodic Evaluation, the county it covers, and the public comment period end date. Information about how to comment on a GSP Periodic Evaluation can […]

THIS JUST IN … DWR Releases an “Incomplete” Groundwater Sustainability Plan Assessment to Madera GSAs, Initiating 180-day Timeline to Correct DeficienciesFrom the Department of Water Resources: Today, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released a determination on groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) developed by local agencies to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in the Madera Subbasin. DWR has found in its technical review that the GSPs in the Madera Subbasin contain deficiencies that preclude approval and the plans are determined to be Incomplete. The Madera Subbasin will have 180 days from today’s release of […]

THIS JUST IN … Public Comment Period Opens for Additional Resubmitted Groundwater Sustainability Plans with ‘Incomplete’ DeterminationsFrom the Department of Water Resources: On January 28, 2022, the Department released eight Incomplete determinations on groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) developed by local agencies to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). These basins were given 180 days to address deficiencies and resubmit their revised GSPs to the Department for review. The revised GSPs in response to the Incomplete determination have been resubmitted to the Department and are now posted on the DWR SGMA Portal. These plans are […]

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Maven @groundwaterexch ·

7 Mar

Groundwater in the news: #cawater #groundwater DWR Releases Decisions for Groundwater Management Plans in Critica... https://bit.ly/3ZIHdLL

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Maven @groundwaterexch ·

7 Mar

Groundwater in the news: #cawater #groundwater DWR Awards $25 Million in LandFlex Grants to Protect Drinking Wate... https://bit.ly/3ZslzvA

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Maven @groundwaterexch ·

6 Mar

Groundwater in the news: #cawater #groundwater The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program: Envisioning the social,... https://bit.ly/3YuJzwO

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Maven @groundwaterexch ·

6 Mar

Groundwater in the news: #cawater #groundwater California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aqui... https://bit.ly/3ydgziC

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Maven @groundwaterexch ·

6 Mar

Groundwater in the news: #cawater #groundwater Did winter storms replenish California’s depleted groundwater supp... https://bit.ly/3SPOojj

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Groundwater Documents

CWL Groundwater Docs

Modern groundwater reaches deeper depths in heavily pumped aquifer systemsDeep groundwater is an important source of drinking water, and can be preferable to shallower groundwaters where they are polluted by surface-borne contaminants. Surface-borne contaminants are disproportionately common in ‘modern’ groundwaters that are made up of precipitation that fell since the ~1950s. Some local-scale studies have suggested that groundwater pumping can draw modern groundwater downward … Continue reading "Modern groundwater reaches deeper depths in heavily pumped aquifer systems"

Mapping Structural Control Through Analysis of Land-Surface Deformation for the Rialto-Colton Groundwater Subbasin, San Bernardino County, California, 1992–2010The locations of many faults in and near the Rialto-Colton groundwater subbasin are not precisely known because the spatial density of existing lithologic and hydrologic data used to infer the locations of faults can be sparse. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, analyzed structural control of groundwater … Continue reading "Mapping Structural Control Through Analysis of Land-Surface Deformation for the Rialto-Colton Groundwater Subbasin, San Bernardino County, California, 1992–2010"

A State Role in Supporting Groundwater Trading with Safeguards for Vulnerable Users: Findings and Next StepsIn those parts of California where groundwater pumping has long exceeded replenishment, people are striving to bring groundwater basins into sustainable conditions within 20 years, between 2040 and 2042, as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires. In some areas, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) – the local agencies tasked with sustainable groundwater management – are … Continue reading "A State Role in Supporting Groundwater Trading with Safeguards for Vulnerable Users: Findings and Next Steps"

Development and Application of a 1D Compaction Model to Understand 65 Years of Subsidence in the San Joaquin ValleyHigh rates of land subsidence, caused by groundwater overdraft, are resulting in millions of dollars of infrastructure damage in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV). In recent years, the use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has enabled us to substantially improve our understanding of this subsidence. However, only very occasionally have the InSAR data been … Continue reading "Development and Application of a 1D Compaction Model to Understand 65 Years of Subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley"

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