On June 3, 2021, the California Department of Water Resources announced its approval of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) for the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin. The Plan was submitted to DWR in January 2020 by the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency (MGA).
The Plan is one of the first two sustainability plans in the state to be approved under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). With this approval, the roadmap is set towards Basin groundwater sustainability, but the work continues. As described in the Plan, the MGA and its member agencies are implementing projects and management actions to improve conditions in the Basin and utilizing an extensive monitoring network to track conditions in the Basin. In 2025, the MGA will submit its first 5-year assessment of Plan implementation to DWR. The ongoing monitoring and assessments are intended to ensure water supply reliability and water quality for current and future uses and to prevent adverse environmental impacts to this precious local resource.