From Delta Mendota GSAs:
The 23 Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) of the Delta Mendota Subbasin have released the subbasin’s first of its kind joint, single Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). The Delta Mendota Subbasin, encompasses 747,000 acres (1,170 square miles) and traverses Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, and Fresno counties. The plan, which fulfills State requirements for achieving long-term sustainable groundwater management, outlines specific strategies to arrest subsidence and create groundwater security for the region’s most vulnerable. The plan can be read and downloaded at https://deltamendota.org/final-gsp-documents.
The passage of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 created new obligations for the subbasin’s cities, counties, and water managers, including requirements to create GSAs and prepare a GSP. The Delta Mendota GSAs, to comply with the law, twice prepared a set of coordinated but separate GSPs for submission to state regulators. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) found those submissions inadequate and placed the subbasin under the oversight of the State Water Resources Control Board. The new, single GSP seeks to address the concerns and resolve deficiencies identified by DWR.
The plan offers good news and tough choices. Using best available data and science, technical consultants crafted a plan that achieves sustainability by maintaining 2015 groundwater levels. A Coordination Committee, composed of representatives from GSAs across the entire Subbasin, provided leadership in evaluating the options and sometimes tough choices needed in order to achieve sustainability. This includes pumping reductions and investments to increase supply such as recharge, recycled water, stormwater capture, construction of new surface water storage, and water exchange, transfers, and purchases. It will also require adaptive management based on conditions in the basin. The Plan includes a domestic well mitigation policy to provide eligible applicants with assistance if a well fails due to a decline in groundwater levels.
In addition to posting the new GSP for public review, the subbasin is hosting a lunch time, on-line briefing August 27, 2024. Registration is open now at https://tinyurl.com/3h7jnpsd. Spanish translation services will be available.
