The implementation of California’s historic groundwater management bill, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”), continues to unfold as the Department of Water Resources (“DWR”) recently released Draft Basin Boundary Regulations (“Draft Regulations”). These regulations provide the framework that DWR will use to modify groundwater basins that form the basis of SGMA. DWR invites comment on the Draft Regulations until September 4, 2015 and will hold three public meetings: Aug. 31 in Sacramento, Sept. 2 in Bakersfield, and Sept. 3 in Santa Ana to solicit additional public comment.

Under SGMA, groundwater basins are currently identified based on California Groundwater, Bulletin 118 (“Bulletin 118”) that DWR last updated in 2003. The Draft Regulations allow local agencies seeking to modify a groundwater basin boundary to request a basin modification based on either (1) scientific modifications using geologic or hydrologic criteria or (2) jurisdictional modifications to ensure local agencies can achieve sustainable groundwater management under SGMA. The request must meet a number of notification, consultation, public hearing and technical information requirements that depend on the type of boundary modification request the local agency is making.

Scientific Modification Requests

A scientific modification request will add, delete or relocate a basin boundary based on two different types of requests. The first type of request is referred to as an external boundary modification. The external boundary modification modifies the boundary between the groundwater basin and the area outside of the basin. The second scientific modification request is based on a hydrogeologic barrier modification. This type of request alters a groundwater basin around a barrier that internally separates the basin as identified in Bulletin 118.

Jurisdictional Modification Requests

The Draft Regulations allow for three types of requests for a jurisdictional modification to ensure that an effective sustainable management plan can be adopted and implemented. The first type of jurisdictional boundary modification is an internal boundary revision. An internal boundary revision adjusts the location of a boundary between subbasins, within a groundwater basin or the shared boundary between adjacent groundwater basins. The second type of jurisdictional boundary modification request, basin consolidations, reduces the number of subbasins within a groundwater basin or merges two or more adjacent groundwater basins by changing the shared boundary between those two groundwater basins. The basin consolidation process also provides for a county basin consolidation that allows a county to request that all groundwater basins or subbasins in a single county are identified as a single basin so long as the consolidated basins do not extend beyond the boundaries of the county requesting the consolidation. The final type of jurisdictional modification request is a basin subdivision which increases the number of subbasins within a groundwater basin or subbasin.

SGMA implementation will continue to evolve as the June 30, 2017 Groundwater Sustainability Agencies formation deadline approaches. We will continue to keep you updated regarding SGMA and its implementation. If you have any questions regarding SGMA or the Draft Regulations, please contact Barbara Brenner at barbara@whitebrennerllp.com.