State Water Board and DWR outline next steps as SGMA moves from planning to implementation

State Water Resources Control Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel and officials from the State Water Board and the Department of Water Resources updated the board on implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), reporting that the program is shifting from plan review to active implementation and enforcement.

The update summarized DWR and board reviews of groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs), the status of six critically overdrafted basins referred to the State Water Board, activation of reporting and fee tools for extractors in probationary basins, and planned guidance on subsidence and depletion of interconnected surface water.

Board staff and DWR officials said the agencies have reviewed dozens of GSPs, held public workshops and are now focusing on whether on-the-ground management actions are being implemented and achieving measurable improvements. Natalie Stork, director of the Office of Sustainable Groundwater Management at the State Water Board, briefed the board on basin status and staff engagement with groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs). "If local management is not successful, the state needs to step in to protect groundwater resources until those GSAs are able to manage the…