SGMA for All Ensuring Equal Access to Clean, Affordable Groundwater Jennifer Clary Water Program Manager February 2, 2019

ROUND 1 ABOUT CLEAN WATER ACTION

Clean Water Action: Who we Are Non-profit national citizen’s organization Working to protect our environment and public health since 1974 Mission: to empower individuals and communities to create change Protect and restore the nation’s waters

Human Right to Water “It is hereby declared to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes….”

NGO Groundwater Collaborative Local, regional and state environmental groups Environmental Justice organizations Good Government organizations Tribes Small farmers Academia Community groups

SGMA and the link to Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Round 2 SGMA and the link to Safe and Affordable Drinking Water

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) 2014 Requires high and medium priority groundwater agencies to be sustainably managed Emphasizes local control of groundwater Identifies 6 impacts that must be monitored and addressed Promotes strong public engagement Requires basins to be in balance within 20 years of plan completion

CWA SGMA Priorities Ensure that all impacted uses and users are represented in decision-making and implementation Set measurable objectives that achieve sustainability as soon as possible Mitigate impacts on disadvantaged communities Employ sound science and transparent data JENNIFER

Good Plan requirements Identify wellhead protection areas and recharge areas. Map migration of contaminated groundwater. Include a well abandonment and destruction program. Adopt well construction policies. Adopt measures addressing groundwater contamination cleanup

SGMA challenges: What’s “undesirable” and who decides? Significant and unreasonable…. Lowering of groundwater levels Reduction of groundwater storage Seawater intrusion Degraded water quality Land subsidence Surface water depletions …so that leads to the key piece of SGMA = groundwater management is determined by the need to avoid undesirable results, but those results have to be determined to be “Significant and unreasonable” it’s not a specific number, it’s a local decision. So looking at nitrate, you can see how a public water system, an ag district and a small water system may have a different view of what is significant and unreasonable

Water Quality Develop water quality triggers that require action before water quality standards are exceeded Identify unique water quality concerns for shallow groundwater Identify water quality impacts of GSP actions, such as Changes in groundwater chemistry that can increase concentration of naturally occurring contaminants Contaminants transported from vadose zone to groundwater

Suggested Water Quality Objectives Thresholds Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Standards Basin plan Objectives Triggers Trends Most sensitive use Need for treatment

Additional trigger – Trends

Nitrate, Well Depth, and Land Use USGS domestic well study 2006 Urban Agriculture Forest Grass/shrub/rock Use this as a foil to show depth differences Say here that we have info for public supply wells across all the state we only have information for shallow wells for parts of the state Derived from GAMA PBP, GAMA DWP & USGS NWIS data

Change in San Joaquin Valley Groundwater levels 2013-2014 Department of Water Resources

What does a 20-year path to compliance look like? Groundwater – source for cities and for farmers when surface supplies fail Change in water availability, drought and move to permanent high-value crops has stressed groundwater supplies

SGMA Requirements: Stakeholder Engagement The groundwater sustainability agency shall consider the interests of all beneficial uses and users of groundwater “A list of interested parties [shall be] developed [along with] an explanation of how their interests will be considered” “The groundwater sustainability agency shall make available to the public and the department a written statement describing the manner in which interested parties may participate in the development and implementation of the groundwater sustainability plan” “Any federally recognized Indian tribe… may voluntarily agree to participate in the preparation or administration of a groundwater sustainability plan or groundwater management plan … A participating tribe shall be eligible to participate fully in planning, financing, and management under this part” However, over and above that, the Act requires specific, targeted outreach to parties that will or may be affected by groundwater management activities. This is not the same as a public meeting – this is targeted and specific contact and outreach

SGMA Public Participation Requirements: The groundwater sustainability agency shall encourage the active involvement of diverse social, cultural, and economic elements of the population within the groundwater basin” Public hearing requirements at multiple junctures – GSA formation, plan adoption or amendment, establishment of fees SGMA, recognizing how widespread the use and impacts of groundwater might be, provided some requirements for public and stakeholder engagement. I think most of local government representatives on the phone will be pretty familiar with this requirement…

SGMA Challenges: How will DWR defend statute? Stakeholder engagement is often lacking Transparency takes a back seat to expediency 20-year implementation time-frame creates disproportionate impacts to shallow groundwater users Data limitations not addressed Water quality is given short shrift

Thank you! For more information, contact: Jennifer Clary Water Program Manager Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund 350 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 200 Oakland, CA 94612 Tel. (415) 369-9160x344 Jclary@cleanwater.org Our report can be found on the websites of any of our 3 organizations, or you can send me an email and I’ll send you a link or a pdf. Thank you!1