Groundwater extraction permit.

The California Constitution requires the reasonable and beneficial use of water and that the conservation of the water resources of the state is to be exercised with a view to the reasonable and beneficial use of the water in the interest of the people and for the public welfare. Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources and designated as subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as specified. This bill, by January 1, 2018, would require a city or county overlying a basin designated as a high- or medium-priority basin to establish a process for the issuance of a groundwater extraction permit for the development of a groundwater extraction facility that requires an applicant for a groundwater extraction permit to demonstrate, based on substantial evidence, that extraction of groundwater from a proposed groundwater extraction facility will not contribute to or create an undesirable result, as prescribed. The bill would prohibit a groundwater extraction facility in a high- or medium-priority basin from being developed without a valid groundwater extraction permit, with certain exceptions. The bill would not require a city or county overlying a medium- or high-priority basin to have a process for the issuance of a groundwater extraction permit for the development of a groundwater extraction facility on or after January 31, 2022, or once the department has evaluated a groundwater sustainability plan for the basin the city or county overlies and determined the plan to be adequate and likely to achieve the sustainability goal for the basin, whichever comes first. By increasing the duties of cities and counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.