Placer County and North American Subbasin Groundwater Update

Long-term sustainability of groundwater over the next 20 years

Auburn, Calif. – At the January 6 meeting of the Placer County Water Agency (“PCWA”), the Board of Directors adopted the North American Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (“Plan”), agreeing to implement provisions of the Plan in coordination with neighboring Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (“GSA”).

The North American Subbasin is comprised of five GSAs and encompasses about 342,000 acres across Sutter, Placer, and Sacramento Counties; PCWA is a member of the West Placer GSA. (see Map below)

Adoption of the Plan brings the subbasin, and participating agencies, one step closer to complying with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. That law requires locally formed GSAs to manage a subbasin’s groundwater in way that does not contribute to adverse outcomes such as chronic lowering of groundwater levels, subsidence, or degrading water quality.

The Plan approved by the PCWA Board is the blueprint for how the partnering GSA’s in the North American Subbasin will manage groundwater over the next 20 years.

PCWA

“PCWA has been involved in the creation of this sustainability Plan since 2015,” said PCWA Director of Resource Management Darin Reintjes. “Through a number of public meetings and discussions amongst partnering agencies, we’ve developed a framework we believe meets not only the letter of the law but the spirit of the law, with a strategy to monitor and sustainably manage our groundwater resources.”

According to the Plan, groundwater levels in the North American Subbasin have been relatively stable since the mid-1990s thanks in larger part to conjunctive use projects and programs that prioritize groundwater use in dry years and surface water use in wet years.

Implementation of the Plan is expected to cost $1.15 million over the next five years; PCWA’s portion is estimated at $20,000 per year.

For more information on the North American Subbasin GSP visit https://nasbgroundwater.org/

The next regular meeting of the PCWA Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2:00 PM at the PCWA Business Center, 144 Ferguson Road, in Auburn.

PCWA board meetings are open to the public.

For information on PCWA board meetings, please contact the Clerk to the Board at (530) 823-4850 or (800) 464-0030.