State approves 10 plans to sustain groundwater basins
California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Of the 46, sustainability plans for 40 basins have been approved. Plans for six basins have been deemed inadequate and are undergoing additional review through the California State Water Resources Control Board intervention process. Additionally, DWR approved nine basins with alternatives to groundwater sustainability plans in July 2017. Through state and local actions this year, DWR said it has tracked an esti- mated 3.8 million acre-feet of recharge potential from groundwater recharge
projects. The agency said this includes actions resulting from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive orders related to floodwater recharge and actions by the state water board to streamline the tem- porary recharge permit process. In May 2022, DWR awarded $150 mil- lion in grant funding for projects to im- prove water-supply security, water quality and groundwater supply reliability. DWR said it plans to announce final awards for nearly $200 million in additional grant funding for SGMA implementation in the coming weeks.
New grant awards to help in aquifer protection efforts State water officials last week an- nounced $17 million in new grant awards to help preserve groundwater supplies for Central Valley communities. The funding was awarded through the LandFlex Program of the California Department of Water Resources. The program is intended to help local grow- ers transition to sustainable groundwa- ter use and protect community drinking water supplies. LandFlex was launched earlier this year with $25 million in grants awarded to local groundwater sustainability agencies, or GSAs, that work with interested growers to temporarily idle agricultural lands to help vulnerable domestic wells. DWR said the funds also can be used to help eliminate groundwater overpump- ing on each acre of land enrolled in the LandFlex program. GSAs that received grant awards earlier this year were unable to use all the funding, so DWR said it is awarding a second phase of grants. Due to the significant rainfall this year, growers enrolled in LandFlex have the op- portunity to use their lands for groundwater recharge in lieu of planting crops that cover the soil, DWR announced. The LandFlex Program incentivizes par- ticipation of small- and mid-sized farms in areas where reduction in agricultural pumping would help keep household and small community water system wells from going dry. To ensure the program is accessed by small and mid-sized farms, DWR said a $2.5 million annual gross in- come cap was set for eligible growers. In a statement, DWR Director Karla Nemeth said LandFlex “will help small farms and disadvantaged communities that are vulnerable to drought and depen- dent on groundwater supplies become more resilient.” The California Department of Water Resources has approved sustainabili- ty plans for 10 groundwater basins that contribute to the water supply for up to 3 million state residents. The plans were approved last week for basins that DWR deemed to be “noncrit- ically overdrafted.” Those basins are East Bay Plain, East Contra Costa, Ukiah Valley, Sierra Valley, North San Benito, North American, South American, Butte, Vina and Wyandotte Creek. “Local groundwater sustainabil- ity agencies have put a tremendous amount of work into these plans that will have long-term benefits for com- munities, agriculture and the environ- ment across California,” DWR Deputy Director of Groundwater Management Paul Gosselin said in a statement. “These
approved plans will continue to address the impacts of ongoing weather extremes associated with climate change to ensure that communities remain safe and resil- ient to the challenges of a hotter, drier future in California.” DWR said it has now made determi- nations for 46 groundwater basins under
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August 2, 2023 Ag Alert 17
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