Board adopts resolution returning Chauchila Subbasin to local groundwater agencies

The State Water Resources Control Board on an unspecified meeting date adopted Resolution No. 5 to return the Chauchila Subbasin from state intervention to local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), board members announced after staff presentations and public comment.

Staff framed the action as the culmination of a multi-year SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) review process. Department of Water Resources (DWR) staff described the basin’s history of over‑pumping, identified deficiencies in the 2022 Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) review — including insufficient consideration of domestic wells, groundwater-level thresholds and subsidence — and summarized agency revisions submitted to the DWR SGMA portal for re‑review.

The staff presentation explained why the basin had been under state intervention, recapped three rounds of plan revisions and described the DWR portal and other resources that GSAs can use while the department re‑evaluates the materials. Staff noted records gaps in well monitoring and said some datasets are incomplete; staff also cited evidence of subsidence and reported “about five feet” of cumulative subsidence in parts of the subbasin over recent years as reflected in InSAR observations.

Public commenters included local residents and representatives of the GSAs and consulting teams. Julie Freire, a Morcal resident, cautioned about impacts on family farms and said, “Los granjeros no son el problema.” John Davis, representing the four GSAs covering Chauchila, said he and the local agencies supported the board’s recommendation and thanked staff for working toward an outcome that the local agencies and state staff could implement. Other commenters — including a county water‑resources director and a department analyst — praised local collaboration, urged continued mitigation for domestic wells, and recommended stronger climate‑change stress testing in future plan revisions.

Board members praised the local agencies’ progress and leadership during their deliberations. A board member moved to adopt Resolution No. 5; the motion was seconded and the board adopted the resolution, according to the meeting record. The transcript does not record a roll‑call vote or tally.

Staff emphasized that the DWR portal will continue to show the basin’s current status until DWR completes a formal re‑review of the submitted revisions and issues a new determination. The board and speakers repeatedly urged continued local implementation of revised GSP measures — including monitoring, domestic‑well mitigation and subsidence management — and additional work on climate‑change scenarios and implementation funding.

The resolution adopted at the meeting directs the administrative step of returning the basin to local GSAs; it does not, by itself, spell out specific funding actions. DWR staff said they will reopen their technical review once the returned materials are formally before the department and may reclassify the basin on the SGMA portal after that review.