Five years have passed since Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act into effect. Now, that law could help with the success of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) own Water Resilience Portfolio, and help keep California water clean for generations to come. However, SGMA will have an economic impact on the state and its taxpayers.
Newsom announced that he intended to veto SB 1 on Sept. 14, 2019, which would have derailed Voluntary Agreements on Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta water had it gone into effect. Newsom officially vetoed the bill on Sept. 27, 2019. SGMA would likely have been unattainable had this law passed.
The SGMA deadline for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) preparing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) is Jan. 31, 2020. The Department of Water Resources will evaluate and assess if said GSPs will provide a clear path to restored health and basin sustainability at that time. ACWA performed a sampling of SGMA and its groundwater work in September 2019. You can find the outline from this study on the ACWA Newspage.