SGMA Brochures
SGMA:
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was signed into law in September of 2014. SGMA is a product of three bills, Assembly Bill 1739 (Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento) and Senate Bills 1168 and 1319, both by (Senator Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills), providing a broad new regulatory framework to manage groundwater. Farm Bureau’s primary focus during the legislative process was on maintaining local control which is consistent with Farm Bureau policy (No. 75). Although local management is consistent with our policy, Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations actively worked to resolve a number of issues in the act.
Key amendments Farm Bureau was able to help secure include:
- Language aimed at protecting existing groundwater rights,
- Raising and deferring thresholds for potential triggers on surface connections to groundwater,
- Increasing timelines to assist local entities with compliance,
- Decoupling the actions of entities in compliance from the actions of noncompliant agencies,
- Deferring and relaxing requirements for basins not yet in overdraft, and
- Removing language that would have authorized the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to prioritize basins based on connectivity to groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
Notwithstanding the amendments we secured, we still had many concerns with the three-bill package and that is why Farm Bureau asked the Governor to veto the measures at the time.
- Farm Bureau has since developed two SGMA brochures and six inserts that can be accessed here:
- SGMA Brochure
- SGMA Hydrology Brochure
- SGMA Lowering Groundwater Levels
- SGMA Decrease in Groundwater Storage
- SGMA Seawater Intrusion
- SGMA Water Quality
- SGMA Land Subsidence
- SGMA Surface Water Depletion
- The Department of Water Resources implements SGMA. Additional information is available on the department’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Program website at: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Groundwater-Management/SGMA-Groundwater-Management
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