A series of workshops are scheduled to inform well owners and others interested in California’s new groundwater law and how it will be implemented in Sonoma County.
The three workshops will take place in Sonoma County’s three groundwater basins immediately affected by California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA): Santa Rosa Plain, Sonoma Valley and Petaluma Valley.
The Sonoma Valley workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Sonoma Valley Veterans Memorial Building, 126 First St. W., Sonoma. The host agencies include the City of Sonoma, the North Bay Water District, the Valley of the Moon Water District, Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Water Agency.
Workshops are also scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, in Petaluma, and the final workshop is on Wednesday, Dec. 9, in Santa Rosa.
The workshops will include presentations on SGMA, groundwater conditions in the three basins, and how the new act will be implemented locally.
The first requirement of SGMA is the creation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), which are regulatory bodies responsible for developing and implementing plans to sustainably manage groundwater. The entities that are eligible to serve as GSAs are hosting the workshops, and representatives will make presentations, respond to questions about SGMA and consider community input.
The Sonoma Valley has a groundwater management plan and Basin Advisory Panel and is in its eighth year of implementation.
As a first step to implement SGMA, the County of Sonoma and the Water Agency hired the Consensus Building Institute to conduct a stakeholder assessment regarding GSA formation. The report was released at the beginning of September and is available at sonomacountygroundwater.org.
Staff of the GSA eligible entities have been meeting to understand SGMA requirements and explore options for groundwater sustainability agency formation. Basin Advisory Panels (in Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa Plain) are learning about SGMA and will be providing input on reaching out to stakeholders and sharing ideas on how eligible entities can work together.
A website, sonomacountygroundwater.org, includes up-to-date information on SGMA and a place to enroll in an information list.
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