San Joaquin Valley – Madera
Statistics
- Basin Name
- San Joaquin Valley – Madera
- Basin Number
- 5-022.06
- SGMA Basin Priority
- High
- Critically Overdrafted
- Yes
- Hydrologic Region Name
- San Joaquin River
- Counties
- Madera
At-A-Glance
Located in California’s San Joaquin River hydrologic region, the San Joaquin Valley – Madera subbasin is 347,667.39 acres in size. This High priority basin is home to an estimated 107,010 people (2010 value). It has approximately 7231 wells, of which approximately 118 are water supply wells. Groundwater accounts for approximately 98 percent of the basin’s water supply.
Source: CA DWR
Basin Notes
2003: Bulletin 118 basin description
2014: CASGEM basin prioritization – high. Comments: subsidence, critical overdraft, water quality degradation
2016: Basin boundary modification approved with Chowchilla 5-022.05 and Delta Mendota 5-022.07 Revised basin boundaries description
2018: Draft basin priority – high. Groundwater level and subsidence comments:
- CRITICAL OVERDRAFT. Source: DWR 1) CASGEM/WDL/GWIDS: Longterm hydrographs show groundwater level decline. Source: DWR 2) Overdraft was estimated to average 143,000 AF/year over the period from 1980-2011. Future overdraft (2014 and beyond) is estimated to be 259,000 AF/year. The increase in overdraft can be attributed primarily to increased cropping, maturation of existing tree crops, and impacts from the San Joaquin River Restoration. Source: Madera Regional GMP-Final.2014.12.09.pdf
- Sources : 1) Current Land Subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, USGS; 2) 2014 – Land Subsidence from Groundwater Use in California, California Water Foundation / James W. Borchers / Michael Carpenter, Luhdorff & Salmanini, April 2014; 3) Progress Report: Subsidence in the Central Valley, California, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, NASA 2015-16; 4) San Joaquin River Restoration Program / US Bureau of Reclamation monitoring Groundwater Quality in the Shallow Aquifers of the Madera– Chowchilla and Kings Subbasins, San Joaquin Valley, California, U.S. Geological Survey, January 2018
2019: Basin boundary modification. Per DWR: It “revises the Madera and Kings subbasins boundary to follow the Madera- Fresno County line. The modification also includes Madera Lake within the Madera subbasin.” Phase 2 draft priority: high.
2020: January – draft coordinated Groundwater Sustainability Plan issued by four GSAs that represent approximately 94% of the subbasin area: City of Madera GSA, Madera County GSA – Madera Subbasin, Madera Irrigation District GSA, and Madera Water District GSA. The remaining 6% of the Madera Subbasin is addressed through three (3) additional GSPs being prepared individually by Gravelly Ford Water District GSA, New Stone Water District GSA, and Root Creek Water District GSA January 31: Gravelly Ford Water District (GFWD) GSP filed with DWR January 31: Root Creek Water District (RCWD) GSA GSP filed with DWR January 31: New Stone Water District GSP filed with DWR; only Sept 2019 draft online from NSWD.
February 21 and March 10 – DWR repeatedly contacts Madera basin contact that New Stone Water District has not signed its coordination agreement with other GSAs.
October 2 – The State Water Resources Control Board writes DWR warning that Madera subbasin’s failure to proper signed coordination agreements between multiple GSAs could lead to state intervention.
2022: September 22 – DWR deems Madera subbasin collective plans “incomplete” because of lack of coordination between GSAs, failure to agree on undesirable results, failure to set minimum thresholds for groundwater depletion, failure to set sustainable management criteria for subsidence, and failure to set management criteria for depletion of interconnected surface water. Collective GSAs are given 180 days, or a deadline of March 1, 2023, to submit a revised plan.
2023: March 21 — Gravelly Ford Water District submitted a revised GSP to DWR
March 21 — New Stone Water District submitted a revised GSP to DWR
March 21 — Root Creek Water District submitted a revised GSP to DWR
December 21 — GSPs approved by DWR
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