Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was passed in September 2014 and fundamentally changed the way groundwater is regulated in California. For the first time in California’s long water management history, public agencies were given the authority and responsibility under the law to address significant groundwater depletion challenges in their local jurisdictions.

SGMA implementation involves the formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) that develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). EKI actively supports entities responsible for SGMA implementation throughout California, including water districts, water agencies, irrigation districts, and cities, by providing the following services: assisting in the formation of single-entity or coordinated GSAs; supporting jurisdictional and scientific basin boundary modification requests; GSP development including technical work efforts to define the Hydrogeological Conceptual Model (HCM), estimate historical, current, and future water budgets, and establish Sustainable Management Criteria (SMCs); supporting Projects and/or Management Action (P/MA) development, prioritization, and implementation; and assisting GSAs in navigating their responses to GSP deficiencies outlined by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and/or State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) staff.

EKI’s groundwater practice area staff has a broad range of skills and expertise that enables us to provide comprehensive technical and strategic services to support GSAs with ongoing GSP implementation support including:

• Hydrogeologic characterization of groundwater basins through development of 3-D geologic models to help quantify basin conditions and recharge potential.
• Developing, extending, and re-calibrating basin-scale numerical groundwater flow models, including developing future projected scenarios that account for climate change.
• Designing monitoring networks to fill data gaps, including design of deep (>1,000 feet) dedicated monitoring wells.
• Establishing SMCs with thorough technical justification including analyses of potential impacts to beneficial uses and users of groundwater such as dewatered well impacts
• Supporting stakeholder engagement with comprehensive outreach plans and communication materials.
• Facilitating meetings with DWR and SWRCB staff to present technical responses to those agencies’ incomplete and inadequate GSP determinations.
• Revising incomplete GSPs to address DWR deficiencies.
• P/MA development, planning, prioritization, and ranking.
• P/MA implementation, including recharge basin planning, siting, and design; developing and initiating land repurposing plans; and allocation planning.
• Drafting grant applications and aiding with grant administration, including reporting and invoicing.
• Preparing Annual Reports required by SGMA.
• Conducting periodic evaluations of the GSP and corrective actions.