Press release from the State Water Resources Control Board
State Water Resources Control Board staff today released a Staff Assessment of the Delta-Mendota Subbasin recommending that the State Water Board return the subbasin to the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) oversight under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)
The five-member board will consider acting on the staff recommendation at an April 7, 2026, board meeting. The release of the Staff Assessment begins a 30-day public comment period that ends April 1.
The Staff Assessment of the subbasin’s 2024 groundwater sustainability plan found that Delta-Mendota’s 23 groundwater agencies made significant progress in adequately addressing deficiencies identified in their 2022 sustainability plans. The progress includes addressing groundwater quality concerns, establishing a mitigation program for drinking water wells and resolving coordination issues by adopting one plan for the entire subbasin.
SGMA, enacted in 2014, established a new framework for local groundwater management to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability. Under SGMA, groundwater sustainability agencies in subbasins are required to achieve long-term sustainable management of their groundwater within 20 years of implementing their groundwater sustainability plans. Initially, under SGMA, when DWR finds management in a subbasin to be inadequate for reaching groundwater sustainability, the board’s intervention process is initiated.
If the board approves the Staff Assessment recommendation, the Delta-Mendota Subbasin would leave State Water Board oversight and return to DWR’s jurisdiction.
More information on SGMA can be found at: www.waterboards.ca.gov/sgma
