The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was passed into California law in fall of 2014 and took effect in January 2015. SGMA requires that state-designated medium and high-priority basins and sub-basins must form a groundwater sustainability agency and develop a long-term GSP. In Kern County, the designated basins/sub-basins are Indian Wells Valley Sub-basin, Kern County Sub-basin, and Cuyama Valley Basin. These basins must comply with SGMA.
Important Documents for IWV Basin Constituents
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Press Release
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Draft Reports for Review / Comment
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Administrative Draft Initial Study for IWVGA Imported Pipeline Project
WY 2023 Draft Annual Report - Comments due by February 2, 2024
- Attachments A-J
-Figures
-Public Comments
i. Geoscience
ii. Brownstein
General Information
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Registering Your Well (Forms and FAQs)
Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan (IWVGSP) Homepage Created by Stetson Engineers
DWR Sustainable Groundwater Management Technical Assistance Program
California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM)
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CASGEM mandates a statewide groundwater elevation monitoring program to track seasonal and long term trends in priority groundwater basins in California.
Map showing unmonitored CASGEM groundwater basins
List identifying fully and partially unmonitored CASGEM priority basins
CASGEM status designation in Kern County:
Cuyama Valley groundwater basin - partially monitored
Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin - fully monitored
Kern County groundwater sub-basin - partially monitored
Mutual Well(s) Information
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Quite a bit of information pertaining to Mutual Wells, such as permitting and water quality, plus who to contact with any questions, can be found on the below links:
State Water Resources Control Board
State regulates “public water systems” defined as ≥15 connections or serves at least 25 individuals at least 60 days per year.
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/programs/
Kern County – Small Water Systems Program
Kern County Environmental Health regulates “small public and non-public water systems”. Public systems are defined as 5-14 connections and non-public as 2-4 connections.
https://kernpublichealth.com/water-wells-small-water-systems/
If a water system has questions about what they should be monitoring for or what money is available, they should contact their State or County regulator. Also, the California Rural Water Association (www.calruralwater.org) offers a lot of assistance, including technical and training, to small water systems.
Board Members & Staff
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Chairman Phillip Peters - Kern County
Vice Chair Scott Hayman - City of Ridgecrest
Director Chuck Griffin - Indian Wells Valley Water District
Director Matt Kingsley - Inyo County
Director Paul Cook - San Bernardino County
Commander Benjamin Turner - Department of the Navy* DoD Liaison
Emma Lynch - Bureau of Land Management (BLM)*
(*Indicates non-voting members)
Carol Thomas-Keefer - Acting General Manager
Steve Johnson - Water Resources Manager
Keith Lemieux - Board Counsel
April Keigwin - Clerk of the Board
Contact Information
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If you have any questions or concerns related to groundwater sustainability in the Indian Wells Valley area, contact:
Carol Thomas-Keefer - IWVGA General Manager
cthomaskeefer@rgs.ca.gov
or
April Keigwin - IWVGA Clerk of the Board of Directors
805-764-5452
akeigwin@rgs.ca.gov
100 W California Ave., Ridgecrest, CA. 93555