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Calaveras water officials propose county-specific GSA to address groundwater overdraft
Summary
Calaveras County Water District staff told supervisors they are exploring creating a Calaveras Groundwater Sustainability Agency to replace the multi-county Eastside GSA, citing governance and cost‑sharing challenges under SGMA and seeking board direction to develop scenarios and a groundwater assessment.
Andrew Wrenshaw, water resources manager at the Calaveras County Water District, told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 28 that county officials are exploring forming a Calaveras-specific Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) to oversee Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) compliance within the county’s portion of the Eastern San Joaquin groundwater basin.
“Local management occurred through the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency,” Wrenshaw said, summarizing SGMA’s framework and the “six undesirable results” the law seeks to prevent. He described the Eastside San Joaquin basin as “critically overdrafted” and said the county’s portion is a relatively small but distinct slice of that basin.
Wrenshaw said the existing Eastside GSA operates under a four‑party memorandum of understanding and requires approval from three of four member boards for action, which has created governance and cost‑sharing challenges. He told the board CCWD currently pays about 25% of the Eastside Groundwater Authority fee despite pumping far less than neighboring Stanislaus County, and argued that a Calaveras GSA could provide more direct communications, reduce overhead, and be nimbler in implementing projects and management actions.
Board members pressed staff on coordination with Stanislaus County and asked that future outreach include higher-level county contacts. Supervisor questions focused on whether splitting the GSA would change Calaveras County’s mitigation allocation under the broader basin plan; Wrenshaw said the total mitigation volume for the Eastside basin would still be divided among the GSAs, and an updated groundwater assessment would better define Calaveras County’s share.
Wrenshaw described next steps the district recommends: coordinate with Stanislaus County and Rock Creek Water District, present the proposal to the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Authority, meet with the Department of Water Resources, file necessary GSA paperwork and plan edits, and continue monitoring and data collection. He said CCWD has contracted Woodard & Curran (transcribed as Woodard and Kern) to provide an updated groundwater assessment to better quantify pumping, well types and depths, and feasible projects for recharge and demand management.
Supervisors expressed support for staff‑to‑staff coordination and directed staff to work with CCWD to develop governance options, financial scenarios and monitoring data to bring back for board consideration. The board did not take formal action to establish a new GSA at the meeting; staff were asked to return with more detailed options and cost estimates.
Provenance: Board presentation and discussion, Item 24 (topic intro SEG 1196; topic finish SEG 1920).
