Memorandum
Date: November 18, 2025
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Dr. Pawan Upadhyay, Director, and Todd Abbott, Program Coordinator, Water Resources Department
Subject: (a) Consideration of Expanded Use of Previously Approved Stormwater Matching Funds (File #: 22-402) to Support Groundwater Management Activities under SGMA; and (b) Accept Staff Presentation on the Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan Advisory Committee (GSPAC) Update
Executive Summary:
Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District, approve to expand the allowable use of previously authorized stormwater matching funds (File #: 22-402) to also cover costs associated with implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in the Big Valley Groundwater Basin.
Of the $500,000 originally allocated for stormwater-related matching needs, only approximately $50,000 has been used to date. This adjustment will enable the Department to meet immediate SGMA requirements, including technical support, stakeholder engagement, and administrative compliance, without requesting additional general funds.
The State Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, was passed by the CA State Legislature in 2014 to establish a regulatory framework for groundwater across the state. In 2015, The California Department of Water Resources released an initial basin prioritization list that identified groundwater basins in California considered at risk of overdraft and classified those basins as either medium or high priority, depending on variables such as groundwater reserves, recharge rates, and population growth. Big Valley Basin was identified as a medium priority basin by DWR, making it subject to the requirements set forth by SGMA, including the local development of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), and the formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), with the goal of achieving basin sustainability by 2042.
In August of 2019, in compliance with SGMA, the Lake County Board of Supervisors formed the Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (BVGSA) to begin development of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan for Big Valley. In April 2021,The BVGSA GSP Advisory Committee (GSPAC) was initially formed to advise the Lake County Board of Supervisors on the development of the Big Valley Basin GSP. After submitting the GSP to the California Department of Water Resources in January 2022, per SGMA requirements, the GSPAC was rechartered for the implementation of the Big Valley Basin GSP, and the focus of the group has since been on management actions designed to bring the basin into sustainability.
In 2021, The Lake County Water Resources Department received a grant from CA DWR for $1.3M to implement SGMA, and to support the work of GSPAC. This grant provided crucial resources for the formation of the Big Valley GSA, the development of the initial Groundwater Sustainability Plan report in 2022, and for consulting, meetings, and other GSPAC expenses. To build on the initial compliance work, Lake County Water Resources applied for DWR’s second round of SGMA implementation funding, but the process was very competitive, and the department was denied additional funds. This left the Department without resources needed to execute the mandated requirements set within the law, including the production of basin water reports, due annually, and the development of a periodic evaluation, due every five years, that acts as a progress update on achieving the goals of the GSP. The Costs of the reports are substantial: Annual reports cost approx. $40k, while the periodic evaluation will likely be $200k to produce. Lake County Water Resources does not have the money to produce these reports, and therefore, risks falling out of compliance with DWR. The result would be the loss of control over our groundwater resources to the State, a development that must be avoided.
Given the current funding shortfall, Water Resources is asking the board to expand the use of previously Board approved Stormwater matching funds (File #: 22-402) to produce the 2025 report, the 2026 periodic evaluation (due January 2027), and to provide for administrative work required of GSPAC, as well as requesting a long-term funding feasibility study to evaluate how to provide funds to meet our mandate going forward.
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Recommended Action:
(a) Approve Expanded Use of Previously Approved Stormwater Matching Funds (File #: 22-402) to Support Groundwater Management Activities under SGMA; and
(b) Accept Staff Presentation on the Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan Advisory Committee (GSPAC) Update