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Return to Technical Assistance Programs
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| Methods
to Manage Groundwater in California |
California does not
have a statewide program to manage groundwater or a mandatory
State groundwater management statute. Groundwater management
in California is a local responsibility accomplished under the
authority of the California Water Code and a number of court
decisions. There are six possible methods for groundwater management
under present law. Groundwater management is achieved by a combination
of one or more of these methods.
Status
of Groundwater Management in California Map (December, 2004)
- A map of California showing locations of adopted groundwater
management plans, adjudicated basins, special act districts,
and counties with adopted groundwater management ordinances
and accompanying tables for each item listed.
Groundwater Management Table Links
The following tables compile links to different types of groundwater
management agencies, plans, and ordinances. (The links reference
sites or files outside the Groundwater Information Center and
may link to general code sections or large files not maintained
by DWR)
Adopted
Groundwater Management Plans generally utilize existing
government bodies and authority to proactively monitor and
manage groundwater resource issues. The State of California
encourages coordinated, basin wide, local agency management
of groundwater resources per section 10755.2 of the California
Water Code.
Adjudicated
Basins are managed by court decree, typically where
overlying stakeholders cannot come to agreement over hydrogeologic
operations or resources.
Special Act Districts are authorized by acts of the
Legislature and are provided special authorities and conditions
under the law.
County Ordinances utilize the land use planning and
police powers of locally elected county boards to address
groundwater management to varying degrees and in different
forms and contexts.
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| Overlying
Rights
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Overlying property rights allow anyone in California to build a
well and extract their correlative share of groundwater, which is
not defined until the basin is adjudicated. The availability and
use of groundwater has increased local prosperity in some areas,
and in some cases, has provided enough money to construct a water
project that can convey surface water into the local area. Even
though the management of groundwater may not have been closely coordinated,
this has been called a form of "management."
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| Local
Agencies
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| More than 20 types of local agencies
are authorized by statute to provide water for various beneficial
purposes. Many of these agencies also have statutory authority to
institute some form of groundwater management. Most of these agencies
are identified in the Water Code, but their specific authority related
to groundwater management varies. The Water Code does not require
the agencies to report their activities to the California Department
of Water Resources.
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| Local agencies with authority to
deliver water for beneficial uses and may have authority to institute
some groundwater management |
- Community Services District
- County Sanitation District
- County Service Area
- County Water Authority
- County Water District
- County Water Works District
- Flood Control and Water Conservation
District
- Irrigation District
- Metropolitan Water District
- Municipal Utility District
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- Municipal Water District
- Public Utility District
- Reclamation District
- Recreation and Park District
- Resort Improvement District
- Resource Conservation District
- Water Conservation District
- Water District
- Water Replenishment District
- Water Storage District
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| Adjudicated
Basins
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| Another form of groundwater management
in California is through court adjudication. In basins where a lawsuit
is brought to adjudicate the basin, the groundwater rights of all
the overliers and appropriators are determined by the court. The court
also decides: 1) who the extractors are; 2) how much groundwater those
well owners can extract; and 3) who the Watermaster will be to ensure
that the basin is managed in accordance with the court's decree. The
Watermaster must report periodically to the court. There are 19 adjudicated
groundwater basins in California; 18 adjudications were undertaken
in State Superior Court and one in federal court.
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| Adjudicated groundwater basins |
- Beaumont Basin
- Brite Basin
- Central Basin
- Chino Basin
- Cucamonga Basin
- Cummings Basin
- Goleta Basin
- Main San Gabriel Basin : Puente Narrows
- Mojave Basin Area
- Puente Basin
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- Raymond Basin
- Santa Margarita River Watershed
- Santa Paula Basin
- Scott River Stream System
- Six Basins
- Tehachapi Basin
- Upper Los Angeles River Area
- Warren Valley Basin
- West Coast Basin
- Western San Bernardino
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Adjudicated Basin contact persons.
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Agencies who manage groundwater
from adjudicated groundwater basins
The following agencies manage groundwater in accordance with the court
decision that governs the groundwater basin. These agencies overlie
an adjudicated groundwater basin. |
- Apple Valley Heights County Water District
- Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company
- Baldy Mesa Water District
- Chino Basin Water Conservation District
- City of Adelanto
- City of Barstow
- City of Lakewood
- Crescenta Valley Water District
- Cucamonga County Water District
- Foothill Municipal Water District
- Hesperia County Water District
- Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District
- Hi-Desert County Water District
- Jurupa Community Services District
- Kinneola Irrigation District
- La Cañada Irrigation District
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
- Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster
- Mariana Ranchos County Water District
- Mojave Water Agency
- Monte Vista Water District
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- Orchard Dale Water District
- Rancho California Water District
- Rowland Water District
- San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District
- San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Agency
- San Gabriel County Water District
- Santa Fe Irrigation District
- Santa Margarita Water District
- Serrano Irrigation District
- South Montebello Irrigation District
- Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District
- Three Valleys Municipal Water District
- Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
- Valley County Water District
- Victor Valley County Water District
- Walnut Valley Water District
- Water Replenishment District of Southern California
- West San Bernardino County Water District
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| Special Act
Districts with groundwater management authority
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| Greater authority to manage groundwater
has been granted to a small number of local agencies or districts
created through a special act of the Legislature. Currently, 13 local
agencies have specific groundwater management authority as a result
of being special act districts. The specific authority of each agency
varies, but they can generally be grouped into two general categories:
1. the agency has authority to limit export and extraction (upon evidence
of overdraft or threat of overdraft) or 2. the agency does not have
authority to limit extraction but the users in the basin are required
to report extractions to the agency (who can levy fees from groundwater
management or water supply replenishment).
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| Special act districts with groundwater
management authority in California |
- Desert Water Agency
- Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency
- Honey Lake Groundwater Management District
- Long Valley Groundwater Management District
- Mendocino City Community Services District
- Mono County Tri-Valley Groundwater Management District
- Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
- Ojai Groundwater Management Agency
- Orange County Water District
- Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
- Santa Clara Valley Water District
- Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District
- Willow Creek Groundwater Management Agency
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| AB
3030
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| Sections 10750-10756 of the California
Water Code (AB 3030) provide a systematic procedure for an existing
local agency to develop a groundwater management plan. This section
of the code provides such an agency with the powers of a water replenishment
district to raise revenue to pay for facilities to manage the basin
(extraction, recharge, conveyance, quality). One hundred forty-nine
agencies have adopted groundwater management plans in accordance with
AB 3030. Other agencies have begun the process. In some basins, groundwater
is managed under other statutory or juridical authority. |
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Visit Laws & Legislation
at the left for more information.
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| Local
Groundwater Ordinances
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Groundwater management is also achieved through local groundwater
ordinances. Ordinances are laws adopted by local agencies such as
cities or counties. More than twenty counties have adopted groundwater
ordinances, and others are being considered. The authority of counties
to regulate groundwater has been challenged, but in 1995 the California
Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision (Baldwin
vs. Tehama County) that holds that state law does not occupy the
field of groundwater management and does not prevent cities and
counties from adopting ordinances to manage groundwater under their
police powers. However, the precise nature and extent of the police
power of cities and counties to regulate groundwater is uncertain.
Ordinances that have been adopted by local governments are available
on their web sites.
Visit Laws & Legislation
at the left for more information on city and county ordinances.
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Counties with ordinances addressing groundwater management |
- Alpine
- Butte
- Calaveras
- Colusa
- Fresno
- Glenn
- Imperial
- Inyo
- Kern
- Lake
- Lassen
- Madera
- Mendocino
- Modoc
- Mono
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- Monterey
- Napa
- Sacramento
- San Benito
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- San Joaquin
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Siskiyou
- Tehama
- Tuolumne
- Ventura
- Yolo
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