What does sustainable groundwater management mean?

The legislation defines sustainable groundwater management as "the management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results." The following are examples of undesirable results:

  • Chronic lowering of groundwater levels (not including overdraft during a drought, if a basin is otherwise managed)
  • Significant and unreasonable reductions in groundwater storage
  • Significant and unreasonable seawater intrusion
  • Significant and unreasonable degradation of water quality
  • Significant and unreasonable land subsidence
  • Surface water depletions that have significant and unreasonable adverse impacts on beneficial uses


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1. Where can I get more information on groundwater sustainability?
2. What is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014?
3. What authority will groundwater sustainability agencies have?
4. Is there any funding available to assist groundwater sustainability agencies?
5. When do sustainable groundwater management plans have to be completed and implemented?
6. Who determines whether a groundwater sustainability plan is sufficient?
7. What does sustainable groundwater management mean?
8. Isn’t this basically a state takeover of groundwater?
9. Does this legislation take away the ability of growers to pump groundwater if the current drought continues?
10. How does this legislation affect existing water and property rights?
11. Will this legislation make future adjudications more complicated?
12. Does this legislation allocate groundwater for environmental and habitat purposes?
13. Why doesn’t this legislation address groundwater recharge as a beneficial use of surface water?