Against the backdrop of what might be the most devastating drought in decades, the Colusa and Glenn Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are well on track to finishing a Groundwater Sustainability Plan that will guide the management of groundwater for the Colusa Subbasin for the next 20 years.
The two regulatory agencies, who are working together to develop a plan for the entire subbasin, released the next two draft chapters (Chapters 5-6) for public review last month and held two public outreach meetings last week. The first four chapters of eight were released in April.
About 48 people tuned into a virtual meeting on July 28 and another 40 attended an in-person meeting at the Sites Reservoir Authority office in Maxwell on July 29.
GGA Chairman John Amaro, who hosted the in-person meeting, said the publics input is a crucial step in the development of a plan because groundwater management will affect everyone.
Amaro said the completed plan is due to the California Department of Water Resources by Jan. 31, 2022,
” So we are kind of up against the gun to get it completed, although weve gone through numerous chapters already,” Amaro said.
CGA and GGA officials and consultants said groundwater management for all subbasins in California are requirements of historic legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The law aims to achieve groundwater sustainability throughout the state within 20 years.
Chapter 5 of the plan deals largely with sustainable management criteria. Chapter 6 deals with specific projects and actions that could help sustain or improve groundwater levels well before levels reach an identified minimal level.
Agency officials said they are tasked with first stating and then managing groundwater conditions that could lead to undesirable results like chronic lowering of groundwater, degraded water quality, land subsidence due to lowering groundwater levels, and depletions of interconnected surface water, among other concerns.
According to the GSP, the sustainability goal for the Colusa Subbasin is to maintain (through a cooperative and partnered approach) locally managed sustainable groundwater resources to ” preserve and enhance the economic vitality, social well-being, and culture of all beneficial uses and users, including domestic, agricultural, municipal, environmental, tribal, and industrial, without experience undesirable results by managing use within the sustainable yield.
” We want to have a stable groundwater basin that will be reliable for generations to come,” said Ken Loy, of West Lost Association, one of the contractors preparing the plan.
Chapter 6 of the plan outlines a number of specific projects and management actions that have been proposed, including a number of projects that could help with direct groundwater recharge.
Among the proposals is a 10-year pilot groundwater recharge project at the Davis Ranches, in Grimes, in which a 66-acre field will be re-vegetated for wildlife habitat and provided surface water for recharge.
In Willows, the California Water District will be implementing urban water conservation measures through water waste prevention ordinances, metering, conservation pricing, public education, and outreach programs.
The Orland Unit Water Users Association proposes to modernize its system for more reliable and flexible farm deliveries that will provide incentives for growers to use more surface water and less groundwater. The Glenn Colusa Irrigation District also proposes to investigate, develop, and implement measures to incentivize additional use of surface water supplied by GCID, which will provide in-lieu recharge through reduced groundwater pumping.
While the Colusa Subbasin is not listed as having critical groundwater levels, agency officials said they are required by law to address the impacts of climate change and drought to prevent levels from dropping to an unsustainable level.
The final chapters, expected to be released in September, deal with the ” tools” that will be deployed in order for the regulatory agency to maintain sustainable groundwater levels.
The final Groundwater Sustainability Plan is expected to be released by Nov. 1.
The draft chapters of the plan are available on each agencys website.
The two boards will likely adopt the final version in early December, officials said. –