title
Interbasin Coordination
end
Requested Action(s)
recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board receive this report and provide feedback on the North Sacramento River Corridor Interbasin Coordination Framework 5-Year Implementation Update and the proposed regional Interconnected Surface Water approach. Staff further seeks Board concurrence on continued agency engagement with the NSRC Interbasin Coordination group to advance the regional Interconnected Surface Waters (ISW) technical effort as a shared priority over the next five years, to be documented consistently in each subbasin's 2027 Periodic Evaluation. This does not require a financial commitment at this time.
body
Financial Impact:
California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). Because the groundwater subbasins of the North Sacramento River Corridor (NSRC) are hydrologically connected, sharing boundaries, stream systems, and subsurface flows, effective SGMA implementation requires cross-boundary coordination. The NSRC Interbasin Coordination (IBC) effort brings together GSAs from seven subbasins: Red Bluff, Antelope, Los Molinos, Corning, Vina, Colusa, and Butte. This effort is facilitated through the California Department of Water Resources' (DWR) Facilitation Support Services (FSS) program. The coordination effort is grounded in the Northern Sacramento Valley Inter-Basin Coordination Framework, first established between 2020 and 2022, which organizes collaborative work around five pillars:(1) Information Sharing; (2) Joint Analysis and Evaluation; (3) Coordination on Mutually Beneficial Activities; (4) Coordinated Communication and Outreach; and (5) Issue Resolution. Each participating subbasin formally incorporated the framework into its GSP between 2021 and 2024, reflecting the shared recognition of the benefits of a collaborative, long-term approach to sus...
Click here for full text