In 2014, landmark water legislation – Senate Bill 1168 (Pavley) and Assembly Bill 1739 (Dickinson) – were chaptered establishing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), thus providing a framework for local agencies to develop plans and implement strategies to sustainably manage groundwater resources within a defined period. As such, one of the many requirements is that local agencies must form groundwater sustainability agencies.
In order to help with this effort DWR is offering in-kind facilitation services to support local efforts including forming groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) and developing groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) to meet the requirements of the SGMA.
Facilitation support services from contracted professionals include strategic planning, stakeholder assessments, meeting facilitation, mediation, governance assessment, and public outreach services. Requests for facilitation support services will be evaluated on a regular basis, and support will vary based on need and funding availability. To date, one facilitation project has been completed, 14 projects have been funded and are underway, another six projects are in various stages of the approval process, and four applications are pending.
Additional information and details on program eligibility and submittal requirements can be accessed here.