REPORT SUMMARY: Groundwater Well Permitting: Observations and Analysis of Executive Orders N-7-22 and N-3-23

Groundwater is intimately connected with the landscape and land use that it underlies.  How land is developed above can change both water demand and how much water can be recharged, and inappropriate land use and poor land management can cause chronic groundwater quality problems.  Consistent coordination with land use planning and groundwater use is essential for sustainable management of the basin.

Under SGMA, land-use planning agencies must notify GSAs of any proposal to substantially amend a general plan.  When amending their general plan, they must review and consider any adopted groundwater plan (including GSA comments).   However, how effective these provisions are in encouraging coordination between land use planning and GSAs is an open question.

In the spring of 2022, the state was in the midst of a deep drought, the third year of the three driest years on record.   Groundwater pumping was causing domestic wells to dry up and land subsidence to damage infrastructure.  So in March of 2022, in response to worsening drought conditions, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-7-22 with the intent to lessen the number of wells that were permitted that could impact domestic wells or increase subsidence during the drought emergency.

A permitting decision can be either discretionary or ministerial, depending on whether the agency is required to exercise judgment in the approval process.  Currently, most groundwater well permits are issued ministerially in compliance with well construction standards that primarily address protections for groundwater quality; the potential effects of increasing groundwater extraction are typically not a consideration.  There is often a lack of coordination between local well-permitting entities and the groundwater sustainability agencies tasked with managing the basin sustainably.

The Executive Order required permits for a new groundwater well or alteration of an existing well in a medium or high-priority basin subject to be consistent with the basin’s groundwater sustainability plan, and the GSA has determined it is not likely to interfere with nearby wells or cause subsidence.   Executive Order N-3-23 Paragraph 4 in February of 2023 added an exemption for permits issued for equivalent replacement wells.

In March of 2024, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Office at the Department of Water Resources released a report that drew on a survey conducted in the spring of 2023.  The report summarizes the various approaches local agencies took to comply with the Executive Orders, observations of groundwater conditions that occurred while these actions were taken, and policy recommendations that can be used to develop future solutions to align land use planning and well permitting with groundwater management and use.

In the eighteen months since the Executive Orders were enacted, almost 2000 wells were reported to DWR’s Dry Well Reporting System, with the largest concentration of reports coming from the San Joaquin and Tulare basins.  Land subsidence of up to 1 foot or more was observed in the San Joaquin Valley, mainly in Tulare and Kings Counties.

Just under 1500 wells were permitted during that period.  Compared to 2021, the number of well permits issued statewide decreased by 24 percent in 2022, which contrasts with the increasing trend observed each year since 2018.

Seven of the top ten counties with the greatest number of permits overlie an extensive clay layer in the San Joaquin Valley, known as the Corcoran Clay, which has historically exhibited the greatest extent and rate of land subsidence in the state.  Data shows that 408 wells were permitted for completion at depths below the top of the Corcoran Clay; wells completed at those depths have more potential to exacerbate land subsidence than those wells completed at shallower depths above the Corcoran Clay.

The report concluded that the executive orders increased coordination among the local agencies and broadened the considerations to include sustainable management of the groundwater basin.  The Executive Orders provided direction to local agencies on how SGMA requirements should be considered and included in the well-permitting process.

However, the Executive Orders do not fully address the complexities of well permitting, and there is no mechanism to ensure compliance.  Continued subsidence and well permitting in vulnerable areas indicate that the Executive Orders failed to ultimately achieve its goal.

The report also notes that well interference and increased subsidence from new wells can occur in non-drought years, so enacting well permitting standards should apply to all water year types and basins.

Among the Department of Water Resources’ recommendations are to require public disclosure about well-permitting applications, develop standards for well spacing and well depth, exempt certain domestic wells based on size and volume as well as small, public supply wells, and decide whether these provisions would apply to basins with low- and very low-priority designations.