Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), one of the key responsibilities of the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency (MGA) was to develop, adopt, and submit to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) a Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin (Basin). DWR has classified the Basin as a high-priority groundwater basin in critical overdraft due to the ongoing threat of further seawater intrusion into Basin groundwater supplies. As a result, the Basin’s GSP was due to DWR by January 31, 2020.
The MGA Board of Directors unanimously adopted the final GSP after a public hearing on November 21, 2019. All written comments received on the draft GSP can be found here: Responses and Comments Received on the Draft GSP. The adopted GSP was submitted to DWR on January 30, 2020. Information on the Basin GSP and comments received by DWR can be found on the SGMA Portal.
Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP)
- Groundwater Sustainability Plan Summary (8 pages; concise overview)
- Groundwater Sustainability Plan (964 pages; complete document with appendices)
- Groundwater Sustainability Plan Main Text (442 pages; without appendices)
- Groundwater Sustainability Plan Appendices (530 page; appendices only)
DWR Assessment and Approval of the Basin GSP (June 3, 2021)
- Assessment Letter (on DWR Portal)
- DWR Letter of Approval and Statement of Findings
GSP Periodic Evaluation
SGMA requires an evaluation, referred to as a Periodic Evaluation (PE), of a GSP at least every 5 years. The MGA's first PE was submitted to the California Dept.of Water Resources in January 2025. Information on the MGA PE can be found on the GSP Periodic Evaluation page.