FAQ Category: FAQ - English

If GSAs are locally controlled, what is the State’s role in this effort?

DWR is the State agency responsible for oversight of the GSAs and GSPs. DWR has a list of regulations, objectives and actions formulated to assist local agencies and GSAs with the preparation and implementation of GSPs. Under law, all regulations adopted by DWR only become effective upon approval by the California Water Commission. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) acts as the enforcement agency that reviews water use data and has the authority to directly manage basins as a result of failure by locals to comply with SGMA requirements (i.e. create a GSA, adopt and implement a GSP).

What is the governance structure for the GSA?

The four GSA agencies are working together under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed in 2018. These agencies are each exclusive GSAs that oversee and manage portions of the Indio Subbasin that overlay each of their respective service areas.

What authorities will GSAs have?

Under SGMA, GSAs are empowered to utilize a number of new management tools to achieve groundwater sustainability, such as:

  • Adopt rules, regulations, ordinances, and resolutions to implement the Act,
  • Monitor compliance and enforcement,
  • Require registration of groundwater extraction facilities (wells),
  • Require appropriate measurement devices and reporting of extractions,
  • Investigate, appropriate, and acquire surface water rights and groundwater rights,
  • Acquire or augment local water supplies to enhance the sustainability of the groundwater basin,
  • Propose and collect fees, and
  • Impose limits on groundwater extraction.

The GSA may use a number of management tools to achieve sustainability goals. The specific tools and methods the GSA will use to achieve sustainability will be determined in discussion with stakeholders and identified in the GSP or Alternative Plan.

Who is the GSA for the Indio Subbasin?

The first requirement of SGMA was to form a GSA by June 2017. The Coachella Valley Water District, Desert Water Agency, Coachella Water Authority, and Indio Water Authority each submitted application materials to become a GSA for different portions of the Subbasin that overlap their service area. Since establishing as GSAs, those four water agencies have worked together to implement SGMA requirements. See map below for more information on the service area of each agency within the Subbasin.

What is a GSA?

A Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) is one or more local governmental agencies that implement the provisions of SGMA. A local agency is defined as one that has water supply, water management or land management authority. The primary purpose of a GSA under SGMA is to develop and implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) or Alternative Plan to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability.

How will the GSP affect local cities and the county?

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.

Why does the Alternative Plan need to be updated?

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.

What is the Alternative Plan and how does it relate to a GSP?

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.

What work has already been completed?

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.