Most domestic well users generally fall within the SGMA definition of a “de minimis” extractor. SGMA defines a de minimis extractor as a person who extracts, for domestic purposes, two acre-feet or less of groundwater per year. This is equivalent to using 1,785 gallons per day. An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water; it is equal to approximately 326 thousand gallons.
Most private users of domestic wells use less than two acre-feet of water per year. In the Santa Cruz region, the average household uses less than half an acre-foot per year. If your household relies on a domestic well and you are not watering crops or large areas of landscape, you are likely a de minimis extractor.
Well users that extract more than 2 acre-feet per year are non-de minimis wells. These users typically use the well for commercial, industrial, agriculture or other activities that require more water than needed for domestic purposes.
GSAs must consider the interests of domestic well users in the development and implementation of the Basin Groundwater Sustainability Plan.
SGMA does not authorize a Groundwater Sustainability Agency to meter wells used to supply two acre-feet per year or less for domestic purposes. Most private residential wells in the Santa Margarita Basin are de minimis and will not be metered.
SGMA does gives the Santa Margarita Groundwater Agency (SMGWA or Agency) the authority to meter wells that use more than 2-acre feet per year. To date, the Agency has not required private wells that use more than 2 acre-feet per year, such as wells used for commercial, industrial, agriculture or other uses, to meter and report groundwater usage. However, the Agency may elect to do so in the future if it is necessary to obtain the water use information needed to effectively manage the Basin and bring it into sustainability by 2042 as required by state law.
Santa Cruz County’s well ordinance (County Code 7.70) requires that all new, supplemental, or replacement non-de minimis wells (usage more than 2 acre-feet per year) install and maintain a meter to accurately measure water use and to report usage annually to the County.
Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) are authorized to levy fees on groundwater users. Some GSAs throughout the state charge fees to users – the various approaches vary by Basin. To date, the Agency has elected not to charge user fees on private wells. As implementation of the GSP proceeds in the years ahead, the Agency will consider approaches to funding the long-term cost of complying with SGMA – these approaches may include levying fees on users. Any future fees on groundwater users would have to be fully justified with the benefits to users well-documented.
If we cannot come to a local agreement on how to bring our Basin into sustainability, the State will intervene. If a Basin fails to comply with SGMA, the Act fives the State the authority to manage the Basin and levy fees as described here: What is State Intervention?
Local participation within the SMGWA is the preferred alternative to State Basin management
The Agency’s Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the development and approval of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP or Plan). Following Board approval of the Plan, it is then submitted to Department of Water Resources (DWR) staff for review and determination on whether the Plan fulfills the State requirements. Implementation and reporting are locally-driven and include the development of annual reports and periodic evaluations of the GSP to be completed at least every five years during its implementation.
If the Agency is implementing the approved GSP and making progress toward the sustainable management criteria established by the GSP, then State will have little involvement in our local groundwater management.
A de minimis well is defined as a well using less than 2 acre-feet per year for domestic uses. SGMA does not authorize GSAs to require metering groundwater usage for de minimis users. A well owner who uses less than 2 acre-feet per year for domestic purposes will not need to let anyone on their land to meter their usage. However, we encourage all interested well owners to grant the County access to do occasional well sounding so that the Agency can obtain as much groundwater information as possible. The more data that the Agency has will improve the accuracy of groundwater modeling and better inform decision making on Basin management.
They represent private well users in the Basin who rely upon a groundwater well that they operate independently of any large public water agency. This includes those that either own, manage, or are served by: 1) a private or shared domestic well; or, 2) a small water system well (5 or more connections on a single well or water system); or 3) a well for commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, or agricultural uses within the Basin.
SGMA is an unfunded state mandate. The costs of compliance include activities, such as, Basin monitoring, annual and periodic (5-year) reporting to DWR, groundwater modeling and technical studies, agency administration and operations, and related costs to comply with SGMA.
To date, the MGA has been entirely funded by the participating agencies and grants from California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management program, including a $1-million-dollar matching grant to develop a Groundwater Sustainability Plan and $644,000 to improve the Basin monitoring network and support initial GSP implementation efforts.
The Santa Margarita Basin does not have large agriculture production. The groundwater Basin is hydrologically isolated from other basins in the County and is not affected by the agriculture businesses in southern Santa Cruz County in the Pajaro and Watsonville areas.
Using guidance from the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the Agency Board of Directors along with input from community feedback defined sustainability for numerous criteria included in the GSP.
Yes, water quality is one of the factors included in the Plan.
The Basin boundary is defined by local geology. To the north and west, the basin is bounded by geologic faults. To the east and south, the basin is constrained by where granitic rocks exist in the shallow subsurface. These faults and granitic rocks generally act to restrain significant amounts of groundwater from flowing into or out of the basin, so they are considered boundaries.