LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received an update from staff on important new legislation that is establishing rules for managing the state's groundwater resources.

County Counsel Anita Grant took the report on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to the board.

The act is a three-bill legislative package signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last September to create, for the first time in California's history, a framework for sustainably managing the state's groundwater.

Grant called the legislation “really historic.”

“Most of the law on groundwater has been through judicial decisions,” she told Lake County News in a separate interview.

While there has been some earlier legislation, “This is the first real concentrated effort,” she said.

And while California often is considered a leader on social, economic and environmental matters, in the case of groundwater, that's not the case.

“Most states already have something like this, so California is kind of picking up the rear a bit,” said Grant, suggesting, “It's probably long overdue.”

In her Tuesday report to the board, Grant explained that the legislation prioritizes groundwater basins that are currently overdrafted, requiring a number of tasks be completed, including identifying local groundwater management agencies by 2017; creating sustainability management plans for overdrafted basins by 2020; creating sustainability plans for other high and medium priority basins not in overdraft by 2022; and achieving sustainability in all high and medium priority basins by 2040.

She said staff has attended meetings on the legislation, with county agencies attempting to look at the issues as a group.

Grant and Water Resources Director Scott De Leon explained to the board that Lake County has no water basins in the high priority category. However, there are two in the medium priority category: Big Valley and Scotts Valley. As such, De Leon said staff's efforts will be focused on those basins.

The California Department of Water Resources' Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Web page, which lists groundwater basin prioritization, shows that the rest of the county's groundwater basins all have overall basin priority rankings of “very low.”

Those remaining basins include Burns Valley, Clear Lake Cache, Collayomi Valley, Coyote Valley, Gravelly Valley, High Valley, Long Valley, Lower Lake Valley, Middle Creek, North Fork Cache Creek and Upper Lake Valley.

The county's work ahead includes creating a groundwater sustainability agency, which De Leon said will be a point of discussion before the board in the near future.

He said he and his staff will be bringing recommendations to the board for direction and approval for how to set up such agencies locally.

De Leon said Water Resources has groundwater elevation data going back to the 1960s for Big Valley and Scotts Valley. He's previously presented hydrographs of the basins to the board, and may take that information to the state.

De Leon – who is a member of a working group set up by the California State Association of Counties and the Rural County Representatives of California to work on issues relating to the act – told the supervisors that the discussions will be ongoing and significant.

“Groundwater is becoming more and more of an issue,” he said.

Supervisor Rob Brown said he appreciated county staff bringing the issue to the board. But he was worried about where the state and its agencies are in the process.

“While we're having the discussion, Sacramento is ready to move way ahead on this,” Brown said, explaining that he doesn't believe the state is going to let a small county like Lake interfere with its goals, which he said include protecting water for Southern California.

“I want to make sure that our interests are protected,” Brown said, adding that while Northern California is conserving, if you fly over Los Angeles and its green golf courses, there doesn't appear to be any water shortage.

“We need to stay on top of this with our own state legislators,” Brown said, as he didn't believe the state's agencies aren't working in Lake County's best interests.

Supervisor Jim Steele questioned if the county's water basins have long-term overdraft issues.

De Leon said there were neither long-term nor short-term overdraft issues, although there have been failed wells and, in response to followup questions from Steele, minor subsidence in some areas.

Brown said the subsidence is minimal when considering that the tests have been taken over the last century.

For his part, Steele – a retired state biologist – told his colleagues, “I'm not so sure we're the big prize here. The Central Valley's the prize.”

Brown raised concerns about the state coming north to take water, with Steele pointing out in turn that water from Lake County wells already is leaving the area.

Board Chair Anthony Farrington said the county has seen incidences of wells drying up due to the drought, with wellheads in some areas higher due to the ground dropping.

Farrington said if the county doesn't manage its water resources and show that it's doing a good job, the state will move to take over.

Brown said he didn't believe the state cared what plan the county comes up with to manage its groundwater, suggesting the state is trying to pacify county officials to make them think they're relevant.

Supervisor Jim Comstock raised the issue about septic tank regulations that the state attempted to implement several years ago, which was stopped by public outcry.

“Right now, water is a big deal,” Comstock said, referring to a temporary service connection moratorium in Hidden Valley Lake due to water issues with the state.

Comstock applauded what county staff was attempting to do in responding to the new state legislation.

“This is not new to us. We are very familiar with it,” and have been working on it, De Leon said, adding, “It's a high priority issue for us,” although one that isn't funded by the state.

Farrington said the county should bring up issues with the unfunded mandate in the new rules. “I think we should fight it every step of the way.”

Grant told Lake County News later Tuesday that people from particular regions are going to want to work together on planning and management.

“It's going to be for everyone – from now on – the big issue, I think,” she said.

And, she pointed out, it's important to get started now, as 2017 – when the county has to identify local groundwater management agencies – “will be here before we know it.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

California water basin prioritization