Sep 24, 2024California reaches 10 years of groundwater management law
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is commemorating a decade of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a law enacted in response to declining water supplies during the 2012-2016 drought.
SGMA created a statewide framework to manage groundwater, which provides up to 60% of California’s water during drought years.
Over the past 10 years, more than 250 local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) have developed over 100 plans to manage groundwater resources. Efforts include groundwater recharge, usage limits, and data collection to ensure a sustainable water supply for the state.
“Groundwater is best managed locally, by the people that know their groundwater basins and depend on the resource,” said Paul Gosselin, deputy director of sustainable water management for DWR.
The DWR will host a November event featuring state leaders and groundwater experts to celebrate SGMA’s achievements and discuss future goals.
In 2023, California recharged 4.1 million acre-feet of water into underground aquifers, and the state has invested nearly $1 billion into SGMA efforts. Despite progress, Gosselin and others stressed the need for continued efforts to meet sustainability goals by the early 2040s.