California Water Views

A July 30, 2026, decision from the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District in California in AquAlliance, et al. v. Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency, et al. will shape what challenges will be brought under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and what those challenges will look like going forward. Importantly, the decision may limit the scope of judicial review of groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) and encourage deference to the Department of Water Resources (DWR).

SGMA Basics

SGMA is California’s law for managing its groundwater resources ...

California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is entering a critical phase as the focus shifts from planning to implementation and measurable outcomes. State agencies are taking a more assertive role, with the Department of Water Resources continuing to evaluate the adequacy of Groundwater Sustainability Plans and the State Water Resources Control Board increasingly exercising its enforcement authority—particularly in critically overdrafted basins. As a result, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are facing heightened scrutiny, new reporting ...

On March 12, 2026, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued a bulletin announcing that the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) reporting system is now open. That system is called the Groundwater Extraction Annual Reporting System (GEARS) and is available online. The deadline for the initial submission of groundwater extraction reports is May 1, 2026. The reporting requirements only apply to groundwater extractors in the Tulare Lake and Tule subbasins, as those are the only two basins currently under ...

On February 25, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom launched the California Water Plan 2028, initiating a comprehensive, multi-year effort to modernize the State's water planning framework. Dubbed the “most ambitious water plan in California history,” the initiative arrives at a critical juncture as the State continues to grapple with extreme hydrological whiplash—swinging from historic droughts to record-breaking atmospheric rivers.

For water agencies, agricultural stakeholders, and local municipalities, the launch marks a significant shift in California’s water ...

On January 21, 2026, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) published its Best Management Practices of the Sustainable Management of Groundwater – Land Subsidence (Subsidence BMPs). The press release details the importance of addressing subsidence, which costs Californians hundreds of millions of dollars annually, largely through damaging public infrastructure and reducing water deliveries.

Background

Subsidence is the process of land sinking. In the water context, it is generally caused by removing groundwater quicker than it is replenished, which ...

On June 23^rd, California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) filed the lawsuit California Coastkeeper Alliance v. County of Sonoma (Case No. SCV-268718) in Sonoma County Superior Court. According to CCKA’s website, the suit was filed “to compel the County of Sonoma to consider and mitigate impacts to public trust resources caused by unregulated and wasteful groundwater pumping in the Russian River watershed.” The organization went on to state, “This is an important move during this historic drought to protect salmon populations that are already at risk of extinction, and to ...

As the clock slowly ticks forward on California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) deadlines, earlier this month, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued its first assessments of groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs). Two groundwater sustainability agencies’ (GSAs) plans were approved:  Santa Cruz Mid-County Basin in Santa Cruz County and 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin in Monterey County. GSPs from the Cuyama Valley Basin and Paso Robles Subbasin were deemed to “lack specific details” and were not approved.

According to the DWR’s ...

Earlier this month, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the draft California’s Groundwater – Update 2020. According to DWR’s website:

“This version of California’s Groundwater provides a comprehensive look at statewide groundwater activities, compiling technical information and data from 2003 to 2020. This bulletin recognizes the historic passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 and builds a statewide framework to share new information and progress made by locals who are managing groundwater basins across the state. It ...