FAQ Category: What Is The GSP

SGMA strongly encourages closer planning coordination between water supply and land use agencies to ensure water supply planning accurately forecasts and secures water supplies for future land use changes, and that land use planning considers the effects of projected growth on water resource management. Local agencies are required to acknowledge GSPs or Alternative Plans when a legislative body is adopting or substantially amending its General Plan. General Plans must accurately reflect the information in the GSP with regards to available water supplies. In addition, a city or county must now refer the proposed adoption or substantial amendment of a General Plan to any affected GSA(s). In response, the GSA(s) must provide the land use agency with the current version of its GSP and any information that is relevant to determining the adequacy of existing and planned future water supplies to meet existing and planned future demands.

The Indio Subbasin Alternative Plan will coordinate with adjacent subbasin GSAs and their planning processes, including the Mission Creek Alternative Plan and the San Gorgonio Pass GSP.

SGMA mandates that all GSPs and Alternative Plans be updated every five years. In its approval of the Indio Subbasin Alternative Plan, DWR has indicated that the second five-year update to the Alternative Plan needs to be submitted to DWR by January 1, 2027.

An Alternative Plan is a type of groundwater sustainability plan allowed under SGMA. It serves the same purpose as a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), to ensure long-term sustainable groundwater use, but it’s based on prior planning efforts that meet SGMA’s requirements. 

The Indio Subbasin submitted an Alternative Plan using existing groundwater management plans and data. This approach was approved by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2019 and updated in 2022. The Alternative Plant must still meet the same standards and reporting requirements as a GSP, including annual reporting and periodic updates.

Coachella Valley Water District has actively managed groundwater in the Indio Subbasin for two decades. Since SGMA’s adoption in 2014, CVWD’s Alternative Plan for the Indio Subbasin was approved by the Department of Water Resources in 2019. Annual Reports have been submitted each year, with the most recent annual report covering Water Year 2023-2024 (submitted in March 2025). CVWD is now preparing a Periodic Evaluation due in January 2027, which will assess the subbasin’s sustainability progress and update management actions as needed.

A Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) or Alternative Plan is a document that outlines how the GSAs will implement, manage and measure the results of specific actions for the health and viability of the groundwater basin. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will evaluate GSPs or Alternative Plan to provide the GSA with an assessment of the plan and any necessary recommendations every five years following its establishment.