July 2020 Sustainable Groundwater Update 

July 2020
Sustainable Groundwater Update

Read on to learn about
July Community workshops
Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program (GAMA)
GROUNDWATER 101: The basics
Upcoming GSA meetings
Articles worth reading

July Community Workshops

Plan to attend your basin’s online community workshop.


Learn about the groundwater basin you live in, including geology and potential problems with groundwater levels and quality. In addition, these virtual meetings will delve into Sustainable Management Criteria (SMCs), which are the heart of the Groundwater Sustainability Plans.

You will have the opportunity to participate in a “virtual” break out discussion to provide your feedback following the presentations.

Petaluma Valley: Wednesday, July 15
Sonoma Valley: Monday, July 21
Santa Rosa Plain: Wednesday, July 29
 
All workshops are 5:30-7:00 p.m. through Zoom.
RSVP online at SonomaCountyGroundwater.org
Zoom login details will be sent with your RSVP confirmation.

GAMA On-Line Tools

The State Water Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program (GAMA) Program and the U.S. Geological Survey have created tools to help users understand groundwater quality in California.

The GAMA Program’s online groundwater information system integrates and displays groundwater quality data from several different sources on an interactive Google-based map interface. This system provides access to approximately 87 million analytical results from over 290,000 wells in California. Analytical tools and reporting features help users assess groundwater quality and identify potential groundwater issues in California.
Check out the online tools here.

GROUNDWATER 101: The basics

Groundwater is an important part of California’s – and the nation’s water supply.   Nationwide, groundwater makes up on average 26% of the water supply.  In California, that number is significantly higher – groundwater provides nearly 40% of the water used by California’s farms and cities, and significantly more in dry years.  But what is groundwater? 

In this post based on the first segment of the UC Davis short course on groundwater, Dr. Thomas Harter, who is the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair for Water Resources Management and Policy at the University of California, Davis as well as Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources (among many other things), provides a basic understanding of groundwater – what it is, how much groundwater is out there, how fast groundwater moves, and where it comes from and where it goes.
Read the full article here

Upcoming Meetings

Virtual Board Meeting:  In keeping with public health order to shelter in place, the GSA Board and Advisory meetings will be held via conference call.

The meeting packets are available on the Sonoma County Groundwater websites.

The Governor’s Emergency Proclamation relaxes the Brown Act to allow for virtual meetings, in compliance with the statewide shelter in place order. The public can call into the meetings with information provided on the websites.
Petaluma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Board of Directors
August 27, 2020, 4:00pm
Advisory Committee Meeting
July 8, 2020, 4:30 pm
MEETING CANCELLED
Petaluma Valley GSA Meeting Calendar
Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Board of Directors
August 13, 2020, 1:00 pm
Advisory Committee Meeting
July 13, 2020, 3:00 pm
Santa Rosa Plain GSA Meeting Calendar
Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Board of Directors
July 27, 2020, 3:00 pm
Advisory Committee Meeting
July 14, 2020, 3:00 pm

Sonoma Valley GSA Meeting Calendar

Information worth reading…

Sharing a few top headlines from the last week:
Orange County awarded grant to increase drinking water supply
How DWR Research is Improving Forecasting for California’s Variable Climate
Effort Aims To Protect Access To Safe Water

Have you checked out the Groundwater Exchange yet? This collaboration between Maven’s Notebook, the Environmental Defense Fund and Stanford’s Program on Water in the West is an excellent resource for news, studies and tool-kits for groundwater management.

Visit Maven’s Notebook

Thank you for reading this sustainable groundwater update. To learn more about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and groundwater in Sonoma County, visit the website of one of the County’s three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies.
Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Petaluma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency
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* 2020 Monthly Update*

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