Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

In 2014, the State of California adopted historic legislation to help manage its groundwater, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) . According to the act, local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) must be formed for all high and medium priority basins in the state. These GSAs must develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for managing and using groundwater without causing undesirable results: significant groundwater-level declines, groundwater-storage reductions, seawater intrusion, water-quality degradation, land subsidence, and surface-water depletions; these are also referred to as sustainability indicators.

Filter Total Items: 56

Geohydrology of the Big Bear Valley

The study develops a greater understanding of the hydrology of the Big Bear Valley ground-water basin and allows the Big Bear Valley Community Services District to better manage and utilize the resource. The study will address the effects of urbanization and suburbanization on water resources and the effects of climate on water resources, issues 1 and 7 from the Strategic Directions for the Water...
link

Geohydrology of the Big Bear Valley

The study develops a greater understanding of the hydrology of the Big Bear Valley ground-water basin and allows the Big Bear Valley Community Services District to better manage and utilize the resource. The study will address the effects of urbanization and suburbanization on water resources and the effects of climate on water resources, issues 1 and 7 from the Strategic Directions for the Water...
Learn More

Central Basin Groundwater Contamination Study

The Central and West Coast groundwater basins provide nearly a third of the water supply to 43 cities in southern Los Angeles County. Over 250,000 afy are pumped from the basins for municipal and industrial use. To properly manage the ground-water resource and to ensure its future availability, it is necessary to identify and manage threats to the drinking water aquifers from surface contamination...
link

Central Basin Groundwater Contamination Study

The Central and West Coast groundwater basins provide nearly a third of the water supply to 43 cities in southern Los Angeles County. Over 250,000 afy are pumped from the basins for municipal and industrial use. To properly manage the ground-water resource and to ensure its future availability, it is necessary to identify and manage threats to the drinking water aquifers from surface contamination...
Learn More

Optimal Groundwater Sustainability, Santa Barbara, California

Prior to 1997, local surface water and groundwater supplied all of the water supply for the city of Santa Barbara (about 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles). Excess pumping of groundwater during times of drought resulted in saltwater intrusion in Storage Unit I of the Santa Barbara groundwater basin.
link

Optimal Groundwater Sustainability, Santa Barbara, California

Prior to 1997, local surface water and groundwater supplied all of the water supply for the city of Santa Barbara (about 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles). Excess pumping of groundwater during times of drought resulted in saltwater intrusion in Storage Unit I of the Santa Barbara groundwater basin.
Learn More

Mojave Land-Subsidence Studies

Land subsidence has been ongoing in the dry lake beds throughout the Mojave and Morongo groundwater basins since the 1960s. In a study conducted from 2004 - 2009, continuous GPS stations were added to interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) methods to measure changes in land surface altitude.
link

Mojave Land-Subsidence Studies

Land subsidence has been ongoing in the dry lake beds throughout the Mojave and Morongo groundwater basins since the 1960s. In a study conducted from 2004 - 2009, continuous GPS stations were added to interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) methods to measure changes in land surface altitude.
Learn More

Land Subsidence in the Coachella Valley

Groundwater is an important water-supply source in the Coachella Valley. The demand for water has exceeded the deliveries of imported surface water, and groundwater levels have been declining as a result of increased pumping. A network of GPS stations has been set up in the valley to monitor subsidence resulting from declining groundwater levels.
link

Land Subsidence in the Coachella Valley

Groundwater is an important water-supply source in the Coachella Valley. The demand for water has exceeded the deliveries of imported surface water, and groundwater levels have been declining as a result of increased pumping. A network of GPS stations has been set up in the valley to monitor subsidence resulting from declining groundwater levels.
Learn More

Delta-Mendota Canal: Using Groundwater Modeling to Analyze Land Subsidence

A numerical modeling approach was used to quantify groundwater conditions and land subsidence spatially along the Delta-Mendota Canal. In addition, selected management alternatives for controlling land subsidence were evaluated.
link

Delta-Mendota Canal: Using Groundwater Modeling to Analyze Land Subsidence

A numerical modeling approach was used to quantify groundwater conditions and land subsidence spatially along the Delta-Mendota Canal. In addition, selected management alternatives for controlling land subsidence were evaluated.
Learn More

Bay Area Ensemble Modeling for Conservation and Biodiversity

The objective of this study is to provide downscaled ensemble projections of climate and hydrology for the next century for the state of California with specific application to the San Francisco Bay Area.
link

Bay Area Ensemble Modeling for Conservation and Biodiversity

The objective of this study is to provide downscaled ensemble projections of climate and hydrology for the next century for the state of California with specific application to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Learn More

Delta-Mendota Canal: Evaluation of Groundwater Conditions and Land Subsidence

In areas adjacent to the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC), extensive groundwater withdrawal from the San Joaquin Valley aquifer system has caused areas of the ground to sink as much as 10 feet, a process known as land subsidence. This could result in serious operational and structural issues for the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC). In response, the USGS is studying and providing information on groundwater...
link

Delta-Mendota Canal: Evaluation of Groundwater Conditions and Land Subsidence

In areas adjacent to the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC), extensive groundwater withdrawal from the San Joaquin Valley aquifer system has caused areas of the ground to sink as much as 10 feet, a process known as land subsidence. This could result in serious operational and structural issues for the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC). In response, the USGS is studying and providing information on groundwater...
Learn More

Water-level Contour Map of the Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin and Interactive Website, 2014

The USGS has a long history of collecting water-level data in the Antelope Valley groundwater basin. Previous water-level contour maps for Antelope Valley were published by the USGS in cooperation with the Antelope Valley – East Kern Water Agency as Open-File Reports 80-1222, 86-498 and 98-4022 using water-level data collected in 1979, 1984 and 1996, respectively. An updated water-level contour...
link

Water-level Contour Map of the Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin and Interactive Website, 2014

The USGS has a long history of collecting water-level data in the Antelope Valley groundwater basin. Previous water-level contour maps for Antelope Valley were published by the USGS in cooperation with the Antelope Valley – East Kern Water Agency as Open-File Reports 80-1222, 86-498 and 98-4022 using water-level data collected in 1979, 1984 and 1996, respectively. An updated water-level contour...
Learn More

Depth-Dependent groundwater flow, age, and chemistry in relation to solvent contamination in a production well, Tulare Lake basin, California

The Tulare Lake basin in the southern Central Valley of California is heavily dependent upon groundwater for drinking water supply but groundwater in this basin is threatened by a wide array of issues. Groundwater aquifers in the alluvial fan sediments derived from the Sierra Nevada on the eastern side of the Tulare Lake basin are highly productive aquifers that are vulnerable to contamination...
link

Depth-Dependent groundwater flow, age, and chemistry in relation to solvent contamination in a production well, Tulare Lake basin, California

The Tulare Lake basin in the southern Central Valley of California is heavily dependent upon groundwater for drinking water supply but groundwater in this basin is threatened by a wide array of issues. Groundwater aquifers in the alluvial fan sediments derived from the Sierra Nevada on the eastern side of the Tulare Lake basin are highly productive aquifers that are vulnerable to contamination...
Learn More

Coordinated Pesticide Reconnaissance Study of Surface Waters in California

Pesticides are used throughout the State of California in both urban and agricultural settings and are routinely detected in surface water. Each year, new pesticides are introduced to the market and often become detected in surface water. It can take several years or more for routine monitoring programs to acquire the capability to detect new and understudied pesticides of concern because...
link

Coordinated Pesticide Reconnaissance Study of Surface Waters in California

Pesticides are used throughout the State of California in both urban and agricultural settings and are routinely detected in surface water. Each year, new pesticides are introduced to the market and often become detected in surface water. It can take several years or more for routine monitoring programs to acquire the capability to detect new and understudied pesticides of concern because...
Learn More

Piezometers and Groundwater Levels

Measurements of elevations, aquifer-system compaction, and water levels are used to improve our understanding of the processes responsible for land-surface elevation changes. Elevation or elevation-change measurements are fundamental to monitoring land subsidence.
link

Piezometers and Groundwater Levels

Measurements of elevations, aquifer-system compaction, and water levels are used to improve our understanding of the processes responsible for land-surface elevation changes. Elevation or elevation-change measurements are fundamental to monitoring land subsidence.
Learn More