The Grassland GSA and 22 other Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the Delta Mendota Subbasin have released a single Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). 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 Delta Mendota Subbasin, encompasses 747,000 acres (1,170 square miles) and traverses Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, and Fresno counties. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 created new obligations for the subbasin’s cities, counties, and landowners, including requirements to form or join 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 the Department of Water Resources (DWR). 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 resolve the state’s concerns and resolve deficiencies identified by DWR.

Using best available data and science, technical consultants and staff crafted a plan that achieves sustainability by maintaining 2015 groundwater levels. The Delta Mendota Coordination Committee, composed of representatives from GSAs across the Subbasin, worked tirelessly with consultants to develop a plan to achieve and maintain sustainability. This includes pumping reductions and investments to increase supply including projects that recharge aquifers, recycled water, capture stormwater, construction of new surface water storage, and water exchanges, transfers, and purchases. It will also require adaptive management based on groundwater conditions in the subbasin. 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 Board of Grassland Groundwater Sustainability Agency will consider the GSP during their meeting on August 13, 2024. The subbasin GSAs are also hosting a on-line briefing August 27, 2024 at 12:00pm. Registration is open now at https://tinyurl.com/3h7jnpsd

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Groundwater provides a significant portion of California’s water supply. Groundwater accounts for more than one-third of the water used by Californians in an average year and more than one-half of the water used by Californians throughout the state in a drought year when other sources are limited. When properly managed, groundwater resources will help protect communities, farms, and the environment against prolonged dry periods and climate change, preserving water supplies for existing and potential beneficial use across California.

WHO WE ARE

The Grassland Groundwater Sustainability Agency(GGSA) is located in Merced County and in the Delta-Mendota Subbasin of the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Basin. The boundaries of the GGSA encompasses the portion of the Delta-Mendota Subbasin that lies within the combined service area boundaries of the Grassland Water District(GWD) and Grassland Resource Conservation District(GRCD), not including approximately 238 acres within the GRCD which lie within the boundary of the City of Los Banos. The Grassland Groundwater Sustainability Plan Area also includes State and Federal wildlife refuge lands west of the San Joaquin River, private habitat adjacent to the GGSA and undistricted agricultural lands with wells providing water supply to the GRCD.