Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
The County of San Diego will become a Groundwater Sustainability Agency for the San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin, the San Pasqual Valley Groundwater Basin, and the San Diego River Valley Groundwater Basin.
A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote Aug. 3 adopted the resolution for the county to become a Groundwater Sustainability Agency for the three basins.
"I think it's important for the county to step up and play a major role," said Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
"These groundwater basins are important sources of water for a large number of San Diego County residents," said Supervisor Bill Horn. "It's important for the county to take part in the formation of groundwater management agencies for these basins to ensure that monitoring is fair and makes sense."
In 2014, the State of California adopted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). "The intent of the law is to strengthen local groundwater," said county groundwater geologist Jim Bennett.
"Groundwater is the lifeblood of many of the communities of the region," Jacob said.
The state Department of Water Resources has designated basins throughout California as high, medium, low, or very low priority. The SGMA requires local agencies to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for high-priority and medium-priority basins by June 2017 and to develop plans to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability by January 2022.
The state's 127 basins which require a GSA include four medium-priority basins in San Diego County: the Borrego Valley, San Luis Rey Valley, San Pasqual Valley, and San Diego River Valley basins. The county supervisors approved a GSA for the Borrego Valley Groundwater Basin on Jan. 6.
The Department of Water Resources defines the San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin as beginning at the confluence of the San Luis Rey River and Paradise Creek and ending at the Pacific Ocean. The Mission, Bonsall, and Pala subbasins of the San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin were determined to be a subterranean stream flowing through known and definite channels and not containing groundwater.
Subterranean streams are exempt from SGMA requirements although the plan must cover the entire basin. The County of San Diego and the City of Oceanside have submitted a basin boundary modification request which would separate the areas not subject to the SGMA from the portion which is regulated by the state law, and the state has given draft approval to that request.
San Luis Rey Municipal Water District consultant Jack Hoagland noted that the separation of the two San Luis Rey Valley Groundwater Basin areas would eliminate unnecessary expenses. "The boundary modification will help local agencies like the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District," he said.
The Pauma Valley Subbasin will be subject to the SGMA regardless of whether the boundary modification is approved. The state law also gives a jurisdiction a 90-day period to provide notice to the state of its intention to become a GSA if an overlapping jurisdiction provides notice to become such an agency.
Pauma Valley has three municipal water districts, and on May 9 the Mootamai, Pauma, and Yuima districts held public hearings and adopted resolutions to become GSAs in portions of the San Luis Rey basin. The 90-day window began when the notice of election to become a GSA was posted on June 22.
Had the county not taken action Aug. 3, the county would still have been the default GSA over the remaining areas. It is possible that the county and the water districts will both be GSAs for the overlapping area in which case the SGMA requires the agencies to reach an agreement about administering either a single plan or coordinated plans.
The county also has the option of becoming a GSA either within its entire jurisdiction including incorporated cities and water districts or only over the portions of the county which are not within the jurisdiction of another agency.
The Aug. 3 action calls for GSAs covering the entire county jurisdiction. A local agency does not have regulatory authority to implement SGMA actions on tribal or federal land, so the county's area would not include the Indian reservations along the river basin although the Indian tribes would be involved in the work with stakeholders.
The county can submit a notice of election to become a GSA to the Department of Water Resources and then work with other local agencies to develop agreements. The estimated time to develop governance structures and legal agreements with other local agencies is six to 12 months.
"The county team has been active in building relationships with potential partnering agencies on each of the basins," Bennett said. "Staff would also work to develop a public participation strategy for each basin."
The SGMA language requires a GSA to work with stakeholders in the process of developing groundwater regulations. The stakeholders include well owners and other holders of groundwater rights, municipal well operators, public water systems, local land planning agencies, environmental users of groundwater, surface water users if a hydrologic connection between surface and groundwater bodies exists, the Federal government including the military and managers of Federal lands, and Indian tribes.
"I'm really pleased to hear that key stakeholders can be at the table," said Supervisor Dave Roberts.
"It's a good action today, but we need to keep a good eye on this and where it's going," Jacob said. "It's something that needs to be watched very carefully."
Reader Comments(0)