SGMA in the News

From California Water News Daily:

“The Soquel Creek Water District (SCWD) Board of Directors recently certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) for its proposed Pure Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion Prevention Project (Project).

The Dec. 18 board of directors meeting saw the unanimous approval of the Project plan following staff presentations, board discussion, and public input by more than 25 attendees. … ”

Continue reading at California Water News Daily here:  Groundwater replenishment, seawater intrusion project approved by Soquel Creek Water District

From the Ridgecrest Independent:

“The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority Technical Advisory and Policy Advisory committees met Thursday at the Indian Wells Valley Water District boardroom.  Special Legal Counsel Jim Markman was present during both meetings, though he mainly spoke and gave updates on the pumping and allocation process during the first portion of the PAC meeting.

Markman discussed his encounters and experience up until this point with other legal counsel involved in a handful of successful water negotiations in California, all of which had different scenarios and factors to them to show the possible solutions and outcomes to the committee. … ”

Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here:  Indian Wells Valley: Groundwater Authority committees meet for first time in 2019

From the Department of Water Resources:

On January 14^th, please join us at a Flood-MAR Agricultural Community Listening Session to share your insights into potential barriers and challenges to implementing voluntary Flood-MAR projects in the Central Valley.

Event Description

In the fall of 2017, the State Board of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), with support from the Department of Water Resources (DWR), convened a public forum on Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). Participants identified a number of barriers and challenges to implementing Flood-MAR projects, such as permitting challenges and insufficient data and tools for identifying recharge potential and impacts to crops.

A key component in expanding Managed Aquifer Recharge is the willing participation of land owners. As potential implementers and beneficiaries, understanding the experiences, concerns, and questions of landowners within the agricultural and rural communities is critical to informing State and local agency planning and assistance, such as through DWR’s Flood-MAR program.  This “Listening Session” will be an opportunity for farmers and landowners to:

• Share personal experiences or concerns about Flood-MAR implementation
• Engage with and learn from farmers who have participated in pilot Flood-MAR projects
• Advise on what incentives might encourage you to implement a Flood MAR project on your land
• Learn about how State agencies are supporting the expansion of MAR

Date and Time: January 14, 2018 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: University of California Cooperative Extension
2145 Wardrobe Ave, Merced, CA  95341-6445

Please RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/flood-mar-ag-community-listening-session-tickets-52324219148

And please participate in our Landowner Experiences survey that will inform our conversation on January 14^th:  https://csusaccce.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cHEzFu0uxLRpdrf

Panel discussion looks at groundwater-surface water interactions under SGMA from a regulatory, environmental, academic, and policy perspective

From Maven’s Notebook:

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act defines sustainable groundwater management in terms of avoiding six undesirable results defined in the legislation: declining groundwater levels, reduction in groundwater storage, land subsidence, sea water intrusion, water quality degradation, and depletion of interconnected surface water.  Of these six undesirable results, the one that has spurred the most discussion has been surface water depletions.

At the Groundwater Resources Association’s Western Groundwater Congress held this fall, a panel of speakers offered their perspectives on surface water-groundwater interactions under SGMA.

Click here to read this article at Maven’s Notebook.

From the Chico Enterprise-Record:

“Comments are being taken through Jan. 4 on the way Butte County and the rest of the state has been divided up to manage groundwater.

Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the major aquifers in the state are being divided into basins. Each one will have to have a governing board of some sort, which will develop and manage a plan to maintain the amount and quality of the water beneath to surface. … ”

Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record here:  Comments being taken on new groundwater management boundaries

From the Department of Water Resources, Sustainable Groundwater Management Office:

Three, new climate change tools are now available on the California Natural Resources Agency Open Data Platform to assist local agencies with groundwater planning. The tools are:

1. ArcGIS tool designed to work with USGS MODFLOW models.
2. ArcGIS tool designed to work with Department of Water Resources IWFM models.
3. Second Order Correction tool, designed to help correct for shifts in monthly timing and annual volume of streamflow in watersheds where the Variable Infiltration Capacity Model is used.

To view existing climate change resources plus the new desktop tools, click here.

For more information, contact Tyler Hatch at Tyler.Hatch@water.ca.gov.

From Bakersfield.com:

“County government is considering pulling out of a coalition of local water agencies after failing to secure blanket immunity from lawsuits that could arise from efforts to rein in local groundwater pumping.

The proposal follows a written assurance by state water officials that the county’s withdrawal from the Kern Groundwater Authority will not, by itself, jeopardize local control of groundwater use across much of the area. Some local water agencies had worried it would. … “

Read more from Bakersfield.com here:  Kern County proposes walking away from groundwater management role it previously embraced

From the Daily Democrat:

“The immediate, physical impact of the Camp Fire is plainly obvious to anyone who lost one of the nearly 14,000 homes in the blaze, or who sees the blistered remains of buildings that once made up the town of Paradise.

But less immediately visible are the scars wildfire can inflict on the local environment, including surface water, groundwater and the wildlife population. … “

Read more from the Daily Democrat here:  Camp Fire effect on groundwater, wildlife still uncertain

From the Antelope Valley Press:

“The Antelope Valley Watermaster, the body tasked with overseeing the 2015 court settlement that set limits on groundwater pumping for users across the Valley, will look to reduce administrative costs in the coming year by shifting some of the work to staff from the con­tract­ed watermaster engineer, now that procedures are in place to make some matters more or less routine.

From Environmental Monitor:

“In drought-stressed areas like California where every drop in the aquifer counts, seismic noise may be the key to monitoring water. Harvard University PhD student and principal investigator Tim Clements spoke to EM about this recent work, and how it might be a game changer for water watchers across the country.

“The inspiration for this research was the historic drought in California from 2011 to 2017,” explains Clements. “This was the driest period in recorded history in the state. We started this research after California had implemented the first mandatory water restrictions in state history in 2015.” … “

Read more from Environmental Monitor here:  Tracking aquifer water with seismic noise