Sutter Subbasin

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

Announcements

Chapters of the Amended GSP are now available for public review. Click here to view and download. Comments can be sent to info@suttersubbasin.org.
Click here to view the Water Year 2025 Annual Report Fact Sheet, summarizing key information about GSP implementation in the Sutter Subbasin.
Approval letter has been added.
Sutter Subbasin GSAs have been awarded $8.53 million in grant funding from the California Department of Water Resources under the Sustainable Groundwater Management (SGM) Grant Program’s SGMA Implementation – Round 2. Projects to be completed by April 2026 to support GSP improvements and promote continued sustainable water management.

Have an idea for a project to maintain groundwater sustainability? We'd like to hear it! Please complete and submit this form to us at info@suttersubbasin.org so we can consider your idea

Download Form

Sutter Subbasin GSP – Click here to access

Water is vital to the economy, the environment, and the quality of life in Sutter County. While this precious resource is visible every day in the Sacramento and Feather Rivers, water underground is no less important, providing about half of the region’s water supply. Groundwater serves the needs of cities, farms and businesses and provides high quality drinking water to urban and rural residents, all while helping to sustain vital ecosystems. Learn more about the Sutter Subbasin (Subbasin), how nine Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the Subbasin are responding to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), and how you can participate to promote the health and longevity of our shared and valued resource.

Learn more about the Sutter Subbasin (Subbasin), how nine Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the Subbasin are responding to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), and how you can participate to promote the health and longevity of our shared and valued resource.

Sutter Subbasin and SGMA

The Sutter Subbasin is generally described as being in the “central portion of the Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basin” in DWR Bulletin 118. It is bounded on the north by the confluence of Butte Creek and the Sacramento River and Sutter Buttes, on the west by the Sacramento River, on the south by the confluence of the Sacramento River and the Sutter Bypass, and on the east by the Feather River and the eastern boundary with the Sutter-Yuba County line.

Why You Should Be Involved

Join us and learn about the condition and future health of your groundwater subbasin. Participate in the process to understand what needs to be done to protect the quality and availability of this valuable resource. Learn why maintaining a sustainable groundwater subbasin matters to the economy, environment, and quality of life of our urban and rural communities.

Sutter Subbasin road map

The Sutter Subbasin, designated as Basin No. 5-021.62 in the DWR Bulletin 118, is part of the Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basin (DWR, 2016). The Sutter Subbasin was designated as a medium-priority subbasin by DWR.

In 2014, California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). requires that one or more Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) or Alternative Plan be adopted for basins and subbasins designated by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) as medium- and high-priority basins. Basin prioritization is based on a variety of factors such as population, number of wells, and other information determined to be relevant by DWR.

SGMA requires that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) be established to manage the basin and develop the plan(s). GSPs must explain how the groundwater basin will be kept in balance to achieve long term sustainability. DWR will evaluate each GSP as to how well it will achieve basin sustainability by the required deadline (2042 for GSPs submitted to the State in 2022). In accordance with SGMA, nine GSAs were formed with the agreement to develop one GSP for Sutter Subbasin.

With the passage of SGMA, the Sutter Subbasin GSAs collaboratively submitted an “Alternative Plan” to a GSP in December 2016. Although the Alternative Plan was not approved by DWR, suggestions were provided that will be incorporated into the January 2022 GSP, which will subsequently be updated every five years.

Management Committee

The Sutter Subbasin GSAs: The Sutter Subbasin GSAs are working together to meet SGMA requirements and will collaboratively prepare a single GSP by January 31, 2022. The Sutter Subbasin Groundwater Management Coordination Committee (SSGMCC) was established per a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide input and recommendations related to development of the Sutter Subbasin GSP. The SSGMCC is comprised of representatives from each of the nine GSAs within the Subbasin and generally follows a consensus-based decision-making structure where each GSA representative receives an equal voice. The SSGMCC will have regular coordination meetings to discuss GSP technical development and public outreach and engagement activities in order to prepare a GSP for ultimate adoption by the respective GSA Boards.

Groundwater Sustainability Agencies	GSPWG Members	Date GSA Formed
Sutter County GSA	Guadalupe Rivera	February 28, 2017
Butte Water District GSA	Donnie Stinnett	September 10, 2015
City of Live Oak GSA	Scott Rolls	November 18, 2015
Sutter Extension Water District GSA	Lynn Phillips	September 24, 2015
Sutter Community Services District GSA	Laura Jones	September 14, 2015
City of Yuba City GSA	Kathy Willis	March 21, 2017
RD 70 GSA	Andy Duffey	May 3, 2017
RD 1660 GSA	Andy Duffey	May 9, 2017
RD 1500 GSA	Roger Cornwell	February 28, 2017

The SSGMCC agreed to a set of principles for engagement and operation that are intended to provide a framework of commitments among the members to work collaboratively, efficiently, and with the necessary dedication to promote the development, adoption and submission of a SMGA compliant GSP by the statutory deadline of January 31, 2022.

The SSGMCC is responsible for:

Sharing feedback from their respective GSA’s related to the GSP development.
Making recommendations to their respective GSA regarding the consideration and adoption of the GSP.
Providing or ensuring the provision of timely responses and supporting information related to GSP development to the Consultants upon request in order to meet the state mandated GSP deadline.
Performing and supporting appropriate and coordinated outreach to stakeholders within the Basin.
Ultimately delivering an acceptable GSP to all GSA Boards for adoption.

The GSA Boards: The respective GSA’s Boards assigned their GSPWG members to work on the day to day development of the GSP and stakeholder communication and engagement. The GSA Boards are responsible for:

Ensuring appropriate communication and engagement is executed per the approved Communication and Engagement (C&E) Plan on behalf of their GSAs.
Accepting interim milestone approvals to meet the mandated schedule the Final GSP.
Being informed about the GSP development by their designated Working Group Members.
Informing their respective GSPWG Members with their insights, perspectives, and opinions.
Ultimately adopting an acceptable final GSP to deliver for DWR review by January 2022.

Stakeholders: Collectively the stakeholders include the public, interested parties, and adjacent basins as further detailed in Outreach. Stakeholders play an important role in the successful development of the GSP. The stakeholders will have opportunities to comment and provide input into the GSP before key milestone decisions are acted on by the respective GSA Boards. Stakeholders are encouraged to:

Sign up below to receive updates on the development of the GSP.
Attend regularly schedule GSA Board meetings to receive updates on the GSA process and provide input.
Attend topical Sutter Subbasin Public meetings that will be noticed through the individual GSA Boards, local media, and the Sutter Subbasin website to educate on SGMA and provide opportunities for input into the Sutter Subbasin GSP.
Engage members at Special Stakeholder meetings several times throughout the GSP process before major milestone decisions will be recommended to the GSA Boards and will be noticed in advance.

Sutter Subbasin GSP Development Process

Sutter Subbasin road map

Guidelines for Submitting Groundwater Data

To assist in development of the GSP, interested parties have requested the ability to submit groundwater level measurement data. To allow for data submittal while striving for high quality data, it is requested that any such submittals meet the following general criteria:

Well characteristics must be known: latitude/longitude coordinates, ground surface elevation, total well completion depth, and screened interval depth(s)
For each groundwater level measurement:

Must be made under static conditions
Must include the distance from ground surface to reference point (access tube, mark on casing, etc.)
Must include the distance from reference point to water surface (see CASGEM Guidelines for more information specific to measurement method used)
Must include the current use of the well (domestic, irrigation, industrial, municipal, monitoring)

Data must be provided in an electronic format. Please use and complete both of the templates provided in the links below. There are two templates: one for groundwater elevation data and one for site-specific information. Both have a “read me” tab with instructions on how to complete the templates.

GW Data Templates

GW Elevation template Site-specific template

Microsoft Excel is required to open and view the template files. If you do not have Excel, there is a free online version available here.

Please send completed templates to: Sutter Subbasingma@woodardcurran

Please feel free to contact us for any questions. Thank you for your input and involvement in the Sutter Subbasin GSP development process.

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