Groundwater resources play a vital role in maintaining environmental sustainability in California. During a typical year, approximately 40 percent of the state’s total water supply comes from groundwater. During dry years, groundwater contributes 60 percent (or more) of the state’s total supply, and serves as a critical buffer against the impacts of drought and climate change.
This report prepared by Ngodoo Atume, Water Policy Analyst at Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund and Diana Voss-Gonzalez, Project Associate at CivicWell responds to concerns expressed by groundwater sustainability advocates that underrepresented farmers have not been included in the development and implementation of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014. It contains results from the evaluation of 14 Groundwater Sustainability Plans (12 from the San Joaquin Valley and 2 from the Central Coast) with a focus on stakeholder engagement and projected impacts of groundwater decline on underrepresented farmers.