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State Water Board returns Chowchilla Subbasin to DWR after revised GSPs address groundwater decline and subsidence
Summary
After reviewing revisions to the Chowchilla Subbasin groundwater sustainability plan (GSP), board staff recommended against a probationary designation and the board voted unanimously to return the subbasin to Department of Water Resources (DWR) jurisdiction under SGMA.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously June 3 to return the Chowchilla Groundwater Subbasin to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) jurisdiction under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) after board staff concluded recent revisions to the basin’s groundwater sustainability plan addressed earlier deficiencies.
Board staff said the Chowchilla GSAs revised their plan to better protect groundwater levels and to strengthen subsidence management, and that those revisions make a probationary designation unnecessary at this stage. The board’s action instructs staff to notify DWR that the basin will be returned to DWR’s SGMA review process.
Why it matters: Chowchilla is a critically overdrafted subbasin in the San Joaquin River hydrologic region. The basin has experienced long‑term groundwater declines and significant land subsidence. The board’s intervention process and the interplay with DWR’s GSP reviews are meant to ensure local groundwater sustainability plans are revised and implemented to avoid “undesirable results” under SGMA.
What staff found: In March 2023 DWR had determined the 2022 Chowchilla GSP was inadequate, citing deficiencies tied to chronic groundwater level declines and land subsidence. Board staff reviewed subsequent GSP revisions (May 2023; August 2024; and a 2025 package) and identified substantial changes the GSAs made to address shortcomings. Revisions highlighted by staff include: - Raising groundwater level minimum thresholds to fall 2015 levels and setting measurable objectives at fall 2011 levels, narrowing the range for allowable decline and improving protection for shallow wells and subsidence risk. - Defining subsidence management criteria that no longer rely solely on groundwater levels as a proxy, measuring subsidence directly using GPS benchmarks, capping future cumulative subsidence after 2023 at 2 feet and aiming for zero new subsidence after 2040. - Expanding domestic well mitigation eligibility to include public water system wells and to cover water‑quality driven impacts; formal funding agreements for the mitigation program were executed. - Creating a demand‑management program, formalized in an MOU, that includes voluntary and mandatory measures and is expected to start in 2026 if triggers are met.
Board staff concluded: "Board staff determined that the changes made in the 2025 GSP are sufficient to return the subbasin to DWR's jurisdiction at this time," and recommended the board not designate the subbasin probationary.
Public comment and local response: Several local and technical speakers supported the decision. John Davids (Davids Engineering) spoke on behalf of the four GSAs that manage the basin and thanked board staff for collaboration. Stephanie Ann Agnason, director of water and natural resources for Madera County, described the local allocation decisions, outreach, and the county’s domestic well mitigation commitments. The Union of Concerned Scientists urged continued work on gaps identified by staff and recommended a more robust climate‑change stress testing scenario analysis in future GSP updates.
Board vote and next steps: Vice Chair Doreen D'Adamo moved the resolution and the board adopted it by roll call (Vice Chair Doreen D'Adamo: aye; Board member Nicole Morgan: aye; Board member Sean Maguire: aye; Board member Laurel Firestone: aye; Chair Joaquin Esquivel: aye). Chair Joaquin Esquivel and staff said the basin will return to DWR for the department’s SGMA review process; DWR officials said they will verify whether any additional tasks are needed before initiating their review and will issue a new determination per SGMA (possible outcomes: approved, incomplete, or inadequate).
Ending: Board members and state staff emphasized that returning the basin to DWR does not end oversight responsibilities. GSAs must continue to fill data gaps, refine criteria with best available science, coordinate on mitigation funding and implementation, and adaptively manage projects and actions to reach sustainability by statutory timelines.
