The legislative intent of the September 16, 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is for groundwater to be managed sustainably in California’s groundwater basins by local public agencies and newly formed Groundwater Sustainability  agencies (GSAs). For the first time in California history, the SGMA empowers local agencies to adopt groundwater management plans that are tailored to the resources and needs of their communities. Good groundwater management will  provide a buffer against drought and climate change, and contribute to reliable water supplies regardless of weather patterns.

California depends on groundwater for a major portion of its annual water supply and sustainable groundwater management is essential to a reliable and resilient water system.  

On February 24, 2015, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors endorsed the Water Resources Association of Yolo County as the  lead agency for the development and formation of the Yolo County GSA (see Attachment A). On October 18, 2016, the  Department of Water Resources approved the consolidation of four groundwater sub-basins into a single sub-basin within the existing Yolo County boundaries for the purposes of developing a single GSA. This sub-basin is called the Yolo Sub-basin. This greatly simplified the management of the 790 square-mile sub-basin and the 23 eligible agencies currently existing within the sub-basin boundaries. The Yolo Sub-basin is considered to be a "High Priority" basin by the Department of Water  Resources, and as such, is required to develop and implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) and manage all  aspects of the SGMA.  

On May 9, 2017 the Board unanimously approved the County's participation in the formation of a groundwater sustainability joint powers agency: the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (YGSA). Over 20 independent public agencies currently participate in the YGSA.  A membership list is provided as Attachment A to this staff report.  One of a GSA’s primary responsibilities is to develop and implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for their basin or portion of the basin they are managing. A GSP is a plan developed and implemented by a GSA that is developed and adopted pursuant to SGMA’s requirements.

Implementation Status

There are several steps, or phases, to developing and implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act:  
 

Task	Due Date	Status
Modification of groundwater basin boundaries	6/30/2017	Complete
Formation of GSA	6/30/2017	Complete
Development of Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP)	2020	In Progress
State approval of GSP	2022
Implementation of GSP	2022+

The Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District was awarded a $1 million grant in March 2018 for the purpose of developing the required Groundwater Sustainability Plan.