The Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) is a public agency formed to sustainably manage groundwater in the Sonoma Valley groundwater basin. The agency was formed in June 2017 and has a Board of Directors, an administrator and an advisory committee.

Agendas & Meeting Calendar

Find out when and where the Board of Directors and the Advisory Committee are meeting next
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Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Take a look at our twenty year plan for groundwater sustainability

Find Your Basin

To determine your basin of residence, click here and type your address into the search bar at the top left of the page

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Materiales en Español

Estamos trabajando para proporcionar tantos materiales en español como sea posible

Outreach to Rural Well-Owners Underway

Approximately 9,500 rural well owners in Sonoma County will soon be receiving a survey designed to elicit their concerns and ideas about local groundwater conditions. The purpose of the survey is to raise awareness about local groundwater management and to solicit feedback from well owners regarding any concerns they may have about groundwater in the basin. The survey results will also be used as the basis for later focus groups that will provide an opportunity for more in-depth discussions of issues and ideas for improving groundwater conditions.

This joint project of the county’s three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) is the first step in an engagement project designed to educate and receive feedback from well owners in the Petaluma Valley, Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma Valley groundwater basins. Survey results will be shared with the GSA Board at its February meeting.

Read the full press release here.

Defining Sustainability in the Sonoma Valley

The GSA Board and Advisory Committee are working hard to develop locally appropriate definitions of sustainable groundwater management for the six sustainability indicators, below, as required by SGMA.

Go the Groundwater Sustainability Plan pages for updates.

What is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act?
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires that California groundwater basins identified as high or medium priority establish a Groundwater Sustainability Agency by June 30, 2017, and develop a plan for sustainable management by January 31, 2022. If the local GSAs fail to follow the timeline, then the State Water Resources Control Board will step in and intervene in local groundwater management. SGMA defines sustainable management as:

“Management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results.”

The Sonoma Valley GSA will be tracking six main sustainability indicators:

Lowering Groundwater Levels

Seawater Intrusion

Reduction of Storage

Land Subsidence

Degraded Groundwater Quality

Surface Water Depletion

For more information about groundwater, visit our Understanding Groundwater page or read our Groundwater Primer.
Groundwater Sustainability Plan Development Timeline