Sacramento Valley – Los Molinos
Statistics
- Basin Name
- Sacramento Valley – Los Molinos
- Basin Number
- 5-021.56
- SGMA Basin Priority
- Medium
- Critically Overdrafted
- No
- Hydrologic Region Name
- Sacramento River
- Counties
- Butte, Tehama
Basin Notes
2003: Bulletin 118 basin description
2014: Basin prioritization – medium. Comment: Boron issues along east-side of basin. GW basin provides underflow to Mill Creek which supports endangered spring-run salmon. High SW-GW interaction for much of the western basin. GW Use based on 2003 Tehama Co GW Inventory data
2018: draft priority – Very Low. Downgrade left un-explained with a reference to a blank entry field (8c) on DWR prioritization dashboard Basin boundary modification request to consolidate basins of Tehama County pending with DWR.
2019: Basin boundary modification approved. Per DWR: It “consolidates the Dye Creek subbasin, Los Molinos subbasin, and Tehama County portion of the Vina subbasin into a single subbasin named the Los Molinos subbasin. The modification correlates with a separate request submitted by Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation to expand the Butte County portion of the Vina subbasin.” Phase 2 draft basin priority: Medium.
2022: January 31st – Groundwater Sustainability Plan submitted to DWR.
2023: October 26 – GSP deemed incomplete by DWR. GSA given 180 days to address deficiencies.
December 11 – Addressing Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley, Public Policy Institute of California
At-A-Glance

California Water Library Documents About This Basin
Statement of Findings Regarding the Approval of the Sacramento Valley – Los Molinos Subbasin 2024 Groundwater Sustainability Plan
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | February 27th, 2025
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the eastern Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills, California
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | November 1st, 2024
More than 2 million Californians rely on groundwater from privately owned domestic wells for drinking-water supply. This report summarizes a water-quality survey of domes
Groundwater sustainability and land subsidence in California’s Central Valley
Water (MDPI) | April 22nd, 2024
The Central Valley of California is one of the most prolific agricultural regions in the world. Agriculture is reliant on the conjunctive use of surface-water and groundw
Statement of Findings Regarding the Determination of Incomplete Status of the Sacramento Valley – Los Molinos Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 26th, 2023
Thousands of domestic and public supply wells face failure despite groundwater sustainability reform in California’s Central Valley
Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | September 8th, 2023
Subsurface water flux in California's Central Valley and its source watershed from space geodesy
American Geophysical Union (AGU) | September 29th, 2022
We combine measurements from Global Positioning System positioning and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment gravity to infer change in water components in Central Vall
Groundwater Sustainability Plan Los Molinos Subbasin
Theama County Flood Control and Water Conservation District | January 31st, 2022
The Los Molinos Subbasin (DWR Subbasin No. 5-021.56) of the Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basin was assigned a medium priority designation by DWR and is required to submi
Critical Aquifer Overdraft Accelerates Degradation of Groundwater Quality in California's Central Valley During Drought
American Geophysical Union (AGU) | September 1st, 2021
It has been established that wells are at risk to run dry when groundwater levels decline during drought, but associated impacts to water quality are poorly understood.
Groundwater quality in the Redding–Red Bluff shallow aquifer study unit of the northern Sacramento Valley, California
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | April 23rd, 2020
This study was designed to provide a statistically representative assessment of the quality of groundwater resources used for domestic drinking water in the Redding–
Domestic well vulnerability to drought duration and unsustainable groundwater management in California's Central Valley
Environmental Research Letters (IOP) | March 18th, 2020
Millions of Californians access drinking water via domestic wells, which are vulnerable to drought and unsustainable groundwater management. Groundwater overdraft and th
A hybrid machine learning model to predict and visualize nitrate concentration throughout the Central Valley aquifer, California, USA
Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | June 9th, 2017
Intense demand for water in the Central Valley of California and related increases in groundwater nitrate concentration threaten the sustainability of the groundwater res
Geochemistry of Ground Water in the Sacramento Valley, California
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 13th, 1984
A geochemical investigation was done to evaluate temporal changes in water quality and to determine the processes that control water chemistry in shallow ground water of