Water Resources Association encourages input on groundwater plan

Courtesy of the San Benito County Water District:
The San Benito County Water District (SBCWD), in partnership with Santa Clara Valley Water District, is initiating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) in compliance with the State’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The development of this plan, which is required to be in place by 2022, encourages community involvement and input.
The public is invited to attend and participate in the first workshop, which is scheduled for: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hollister Veterans’ Memorial Building, Room 218, 649 San Benito Street, Hollister. 
Refreshments will be provided.
This workshop will provide an introduction to SGMA and what it means for north San Benito County groundwater, an overview of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan process—who is involved, and what to expect—and a summary and discussion of groundwater conditions, concerns, and challenges. This is the first of six community workshops that will be held over the next three years as the plan is developed.
Interested groundwater users, community members, farmers, ranchers, landowners, and business owners are encouraged to attend and participate in this important process.
SGMA is a state law requiring that groundwater basins are made sustainable and provides a comprehensive framework for basin sustainability. That framework includes substantial technical analysis and quantification of many aspects of basin sustainability and management, extensive and more detailed descriptions of basin settings and conditions, and more comprehensive monitoring of groundwater levels, groundwater quality, and groundwater use, including potential metering of groundwater usage.
The law requires formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), development of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) for designated basins, and achievement of groundwater sustainability within 20 years of GSP implementation. The SBCWD has actively complied with SGMA and has become the Groundwater Sustainability Agency for groundwater basins in north San Benito County.
More information about SGMA, groundwater sustainability, and the development of this plan is online at www.sbcwd.com (click on Sustainable Groundwater Management).