Chapter 1. General Provisions of California Water Code >> Division 6. >> Part 2.74. >> Chapter 1.
This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
"Sustainable Groundwater Management Act."
In enacting this part, it is the intent of the Legislature
to do all of the following:
(a) To provide for the sustainable management of groundwater
basins.
(b) To enhance local management of groundwater consistent with
rights to use or store groundwater and Section 2 of Article X of the
California Constitution. It is the intent of the Legislature to
preserve the security of water rights in the state to the greatest
extent possible consistent with the sustainable management of
groundwater.
(c) To establish minimum standards for sustainable groundwater
management.
(d) To provide local groundwater agencies with the authority and
the technical and financial assistance necessary to sustainably
manage groundwater.
(e) To avoid or minimize subsidence.
(f) To improve data collection and understanding about
groundwater.
(g) To increase groundwater storage and remove impediments to
recharge.
(h) To manage groundwater basins through the actions of local
governmental agencies to the greatest extent feasible, while
minimizing state intervention to only when necessary to ensure that
local agencies manage groundwater in a sustainable manner.
(i) To provide a more efficient and cost-effective groundwater
adjudication process that protects water rights, ensures due process,
prevents unnecessary delay, and furthers the objectives of this
part.
(a) This part applies to all groundwater basins in the
state.
(b) To the extent authorized under federal or tribal law, this
part applies to an Indian tribe and to the federal government,
including, but not limited to, the United States Department of
Defense.
(c) The federal government or any federally recognized Indian
tribe, appreciating the shared interest in assuring the
sustainability of groundwater resources, may voluntarily agree to
participate in the preparation or administration of a groundwater
sustainability plan or groundwater management plan under this part
through a joint powers authority or other agreement with local
agencies in the basin. A participating tribe shall be eligible to
participate fully in planning, financing, and management under this
part, including eligibility for grants and technical assistance, if
any exercise of regulatory authority, enforcement, or imposition and
collection of fees is pursuant to the tribe's independent authority
and not pursuant to authority granted to a groundwater sustainability
agency under this part.
(d) In an adjudication of rights to the use of groundwater, and in
the management of a groundwater basin or subbasin by a groundwater
sustainability agency or by the board, federally reserved water
rights to groundwater shall be respected in full. In case of conflict
between federal and state law in that adjudication or management,
federal law shall prevail. The voluntary or involuntary participation
of a holder of rights in that adjudication or management shall not
subject that holder to state law regarding other proceedings or
matters not authorized by federal law. This subdivision is
declaratory of existing law.
(a) Groundwater management pursuant to this part shall be
consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California
Constitution. Nothing in this part modifies rights or priorities to
use or store groundwater consistent with Section 2 of Article X of
the California Constitution, except that in basins designated medium-
or high-priority basins by the department, no extraction of
groundwater between January 1, 2015, and the date of adoption of a
groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to this part or the approval
by the department of an alternative submitted under Section 10733.6,
whichever is sooner, may be used as evidence of, or to establish or
defend against, any claim of prescription.
(b) Nothing in this part, or in any groundwater management plan
adopted pursuant to this part, determines or alters surface water
rights or groundwater rights under common law or any provision of law
that determines or grants surface water rights.
(c) Water rights may be determined in an adjudication action
pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 10 of
Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(a) (1) By January 31, 2020, all basins designated as
high- or medium-priority basins by the department that have been
designated in Bulletin 118, as it may be updated or revised on or
before January 1, 2017, as basins that are subject to critical
conditions of overdraft shall be managed under a groundwater
sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans
pursuant to this part.
(2) By January 31, 2022, all basins designated as high- or
medium-priority basins by the department that are not subject to
paragraph (1) shall be managed under a groundwater sustainability
plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans pursuant to this
part.
(b) The Legislature encourages and authorizes basins designated as
low- and very low priority basins by the department to be managed
under groundwater sustainability plans pursuant to this part. Chapter
11 (commencing with Section 10735) does not apply to a basin
designated as a low- or very low priority basin.
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (e), this part does
not apply to the following adjudicated areas or a local agency that
conforms to the requirements of an adjudication of water rights for
one of the following adjudicated areas:
(1) Beaumont Basin.
(2) Brite Basin.
(3) Central Basin.
(4) Chino Basin.
(5) Cucamonga Basin.
(6) Cummings Basin.
(7) Goleta Basin.
(8) Lytle Basin.
(9) Main San Gabriel Basin.
(10) Mojave Basin Area.
(11) Puente Basin.
(12) Raymond Basin.
(13) Rialto-Colton Basin.
(14) Riverside Basin.
(15) San Bernardino Basin Area.
(16) San Jacinto Basin.
(17) Santa Margarita River Watershed.
(18) Santa Maria Valley Basin.
(19) Santa Paula Basin.
(20) Scott River Stream System.
(21) Seaside Basin.
(22) Six Basins.
(23) Tehachapi Basin.
(24) Upper Los Angeles River Area.
(25) Warren Valley Basin.
(26) West Coast Basin.
(b) The Antelope Valley basin at issue in the Antelope Valley
Groundwater Cases (Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding Number
4408) shall be treated as an adjudicated basin pursuant to this
section if the superior court issues a final judgment, order, or
decree.
(c) Any groundwater basin or portion of a groundwater basin in
Inyo County managed pursuant to the terms of the stipulated judgment
in City of Los Angeles v. Board of Supervisors of the County of Inyo,
et al. (Inyo County Case No. 12908) shall be treated as an
adjudicated area pursuant to this section.
(d) The Los Osos Groundwater Basin at issue in Los Osos Community
Service District v. Southern California Water Company [Golden State
Water Company] et al. (San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Case No.
CV 040126) shall be treated as an adjudicated basin pursuant to this
section if the superior court issues a final judgment, order, or
decree.
(e) If an adjudication action has determined the rights to extract
groundwater for only a portion of a basin, subdivisions (a), (b),
(c), and (d) apply only within the area for which the adjudication
action has determined those rights.
(f) The watermaster or a local agency within a basin identified in
subdivision (a) shall do all of the following:
(1) By April 1, 2016, submit to the department a copy of a
governing final judgment, or other judicial order or decree, and any
amendments entered before April 1, 2016.
(2) Within 90 days of entry by a court, submit to the department a
copy of any amendment made and entered by the court to the governing
final judgment or other judicial order or decree on or after April
1, 2016.
(3) By April 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, submit to the
department a report containing the following information to the
extent available for the portion of the basin subject to the
adjudication:
(A) Groundwater elevation data unless otherwise submitted pursuant
to Section 10932.
(B) Annual aggregated data identifying groundwater extraction for
the preceding water year.
(C) Surface water supply used for or available for use for
groundwater recharge or in-lieu use.
(D) Total water use.
(E) Change in groundwater storage.
(F) The annual report submitted to the court.
All relevant state agencies, including, but not limited
to, the board, the regional water quality control boards, the
department, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall consider
the policies of this part, and any groundwater sustainability plans
adopted pursuant to this part, when revising or adopting policies,
regulations, or criteria, or when issuing orders or determinations,
where pertinent.