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TO: Board of Directors, Lake County Watershed Protection District
FROM: Scott De Leon, Interim Water Resources Director
DATE: August 6, 2019
SUBJECT: (Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District, Board of Directors) Adopt Resolution to Form the Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In 2014, the state of California adopted the Groundwater Sustainability Act (SGMA), which requires local agencies with medium or high priority basins to develop a Groundwater Sustainability plan or an Alternative Groundwater Sustainability Plan in an effort to ensure that groundwater basins reach sustainability within 20 years of implementing a groundwater basin sustainability plan. SGMA provides local agencies a framework for managing groundwater basins in a sustainable manner and recognizes groundwater is most effectively managed at the local level.
The Lake County Watershed Protection Districted (District) elected to prepare an Alternative Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Big Valley groundwater basin which was submitted to the State on December 30, 2016. Local agencies who submitted an Alternative plan are required to provide an Annual Report to the state to demonstrate the progress toward implementation of the Alternative or maintenance of groundwater conditions described in the submitted Alternative plan. The Lake County Watershed Protection District has submitted two (2) Annual Reports; the Annual Report for the Big Valley Groundwater Basin Water Year 2017, and the Annual Report for the Big Valley Groundwater Basin Water Year 2018.
In July 2019, the Lake County Watershed Protection District was notified by the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) that the Big Valley Groundwater Basin Alternative Sustainability Plan had not been accepted. In order to maintain local and sustainable management of the Big Valley groundwater basin, it is in the best interest for the County that the Board of Directors of...
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