By Geoff Vanden Heuvel, Director of Regulatory and Economic Affairs at the Milk Producers Council:
There is intense activity going on right now in the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) whose plans were deemed “inadequate” by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) this past spring. Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) enforcement for the six inadequate subbasins was transferred to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
A SWRCB staff report to the State Board last month had this summary: “the six basins with inadequate GSPs, from north to south, are the Chowchilla, Delta-Mendota, Kaweah, Tulare Lake, Tule, and Kern County subbasins. Deficiencies DWR noted include, but are not limited to, insufficient sustainable management criteria, the potential for dewatering of drinking water wells, impacts of subsidence, and lack of coordination amongst GSAs.”
Here is what I am learning from the public meetings I attend about where these subbasins are in addressing the items identified by DWR.
Click here to continue reading at the Milk Producers Council.