State approves sustainability plan for Bay Area basins
SACRAMENTO - Two Bay Area underground basins have been approved by the state for their plans to maintain their water supplies, the California Department of Water Resources announced this week.
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 requires local governments to form groundwater sustainability agencies for basins deemed high and medium priority. These agencies craft plans to maintain the basins and mitigate "overdraft," which is when more groundwater is being pumped out of the basin than water being put into it.
The state's Department of Water Resources reviews the plans from local agencies, assists with management practices and provides grant funding.
The East Bay Plain and East Contra Costa basins are two of the 10 basins that most recently received plan approvals after submitting their plans in January 2022. Both are deemed medium priority, as they are not critically overdrafted, the department announced Thursday.
According to a department news release, the groundwater basins provide a significant portion of the water supply for nearly 3 million Californians.
The department said the basins are not at a critically low level, but these plans help protect the basins against climate-driven extreme weather events like periods of drought and intense rainstorms like the state saw earlier this year.
The plans outline how local agencies will capture storm runoff to "recharge" the groundwater basins -- water that will then be used during dry periods. According to the department, groundwater supplies 40-60% of the state's water, especially during dry years. It's used for drinking, cooking, farming and more.
"These approved plans will continue to address the impacts of ongoing weather extremes associated with climate change to ensure that communities remain safe and resilient to the challenges of a hotter, drier future in California," the state's deputy director of groundwater management Paul Gosselin said in a news release.
The East Bay Subbasin's groundwater sustainability agency includes Richmond, Berkeley, Alameda, Oakland and other cities and is used for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes. The subbasin is made up of 94% urban land, but there are some areas of open water and vegetation, according to the agency's sustainability plan.
The East Bay plan outlines the agency's sustainability goals, how it will measure water levels and quality and what data should be collected regularly in order to meet those goals. The agency estimated spending $483,000 on management and $168,000 on basin operations and monitoring annually.
The Department of Water Resources has reviewed plans for 46 basins, 40 of which have been approved, including the 10 recent approvals.
The other six were deemed inadequate and are under an intervention process with the State Water Resources Control Board, as their plans did not develop a sound management criteria for projected groundwater level decline.
Agencies that submitted their plans in 2022 should expect to hear back from the state department throughout 2023. The Department of Water Resources also reviews annual reports from local agencies and assesses progress with sustainability goals every five years.
