Groundwater Sustainability

The City of Madera chose to become a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) pursuant to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in August of 2016. The City’s status as the exclusive GSA within its boundaries became effective in February of 2017. The City of Madera GSA is committed to working with 6 other GSAs within the Madera Groundwater Sub-basin to meet SGMA requirements.

GSA OVERVIEW

In September of 2014, the Governor signed into law SB 1168, AB 1739, and SB 1319, known collectively as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). SGMA established a framework for sustainable, local groundwater management and requires groundwater-dependent regions to halt overdraft and bring basins into balanced levels of pumping and recharge. For the Madera Groundwater Sub-basin, the formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) was required by 2017, and the preparation of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) is required by 2020.

The City of Madera officially became a GSA in early 2017 and is one of seven agencies that have established a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) within the boundaries of Madera Groundwater Sub-basin. The six other agencies that have formed GSAs include Madera County, Gravelly Ford Water District, Madera Irrigation District, Root Creek Water District, Madera Water District and New Stone Water District.  Six of the seven GSAs, including the City of Madera, are working together to prepare a single Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP).  Those six GSA’s will collaborate with the seventh agency, New Stone Water District, which has decided to prepare a stand-alone document.