GSP Documents

SIERRA VALLEY SUBBASIN GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN (GSP)

In 2014, Governor Brown signed into law a package of bills (Senate Bill 1168, Senate Bill 1319, and Assembly Bill 1739) collectively called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The intent of SGMA is to create a “framework for sustainable groundwater management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results.”

The Sierra Valley groundwater basin is a medium-priority basin. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was made and entered into on January 8, 2019 by and between the SVGMD and Plumas County to establish and facilitate a cooperative and ongoing working relationship between the County and the SVGMD, as co-Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, to develop a single Sierra Valley Subbasin GSP.

The purpose of the GSP is to ensure that “sustainable groundwater management” in the Sierra Valley Subbasin is achieved by 2042 and maintained at least until 2072. As required by SGMA, a Sustainability Goal must be developed to fulfill the regulations and culminate in the absence of undesirable results within the next 20 years. The overarching Sustainability Goal for groundwater management in the Sierra Valley Subbasin is: To manage groundwater resources in a manner that best supports the long-term health of the people, the environment, and the economy of Sierra Valley into the future by avoiding significant and unreasonable impacts to environmental, domestic, agricultural, and industrial beneficial uses and users of groundwater.

GSP NOW AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The Sierra Valley Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs)—Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District (SVGMD) and the Plumas County Board of Supervisors—adopted by resolution the Sierra Valley Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) on January 17, 2022 and January 18, 2022, respectively. The adopted GSP was then submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) by the January 31, 2022 deadline.

The GSP is now under review by DWR and open to public comment during the official 75-day public comment period, which ends on April 23, 2022.

Comments can be submitted at the following link: https://sgma.water.ca.gov/portal/gsp/comments/125

Click on the blue box in the upper left to “Add Comment.” Fill in the information on the Comment Submission form and click Submit. Note the Comment Submission form includes the ability to upload additional files, if desired. Comments may be submitted after April 23, 2022 and DWR will consider them as time permits. All submitted public comments can be viewed on the SGMA Portal and will be posted publicly.

The GSP is provided as a single file on DWR's website at: https://sgma.water.ca.gov/portal/gsp/preview/125