California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 2 - Department of Water Resources › Chapter 1.5 - Groundwater Management › Subchapter 2 - Groundwater Sustainability Plans › Article 2 - Definitions › Section 351 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
The definitions in the Sustainable Groundwater Management
						Act, Bulletin 118, and Subchapter 1 of this Chapter, shall apply to these
						regulations. In the event of conflicting definitions, the definitions in the
						Act govern the meanings in this Subchapter. In addition, the following terms
						used in this Subchapter have the following meanings:
(a) "Agency" refers to a groundwater
					 sustainability agency as defined in the Act.
(b) "Agricultural water management plan"
					 refers to a plan adopted pursuant to the Agricultural Water Management Planning
					 Act as described in Part 2.8 of Division 6 of the Water Code, commencing with
					 Section 10800 et seq.
(c) "Alternative" refers to an alternative to
					 a Plan described in Water Code Section
					 10733.6.
(d) "Annual report" refers to the report
					 required by Water Code Section
					 10728.
(e) "Baseline" or "baseline conditions" refer
					 to historic information used to project future conditions for hydrology, water
					 demand, and availability of surface water and to evaluate potential sustainable
					 management practices of a basin.
(f) "Basin" means a groundwater basin or
					 subbasin identified and defined in Bulletin 118 or as modified pursuant to
					 Water Code 10722 et seq.
(g) "Basin
					 setting" refers to the information about the physical setting, characteristics,
					 and current conditions of the basin as described by the Agency in the
					 hydrogeologic conceptual model, the groundwater conditions, and the water
					 budget, pursuant to Subarticle 2 of Article 5.
(h) "Best available science" refers to the
					 use of sufficient and credible information and data, specific to the decision
					 being made and the time frame available for making that decision, that is
					 consistent with scientific and engineering professional standards of
					 practice.
(i) "Best management
					 practice" refers to a practice, or combination of practices, that are designed
					 to achieve sustainable groundwater management and have been determined to be
					 technologically and economically effective, practicable, and based on best
					 available science.
(j) "Board"
					 refers to the State Water Resources Control Board.
(k) "CASGEM" refers to the California
					 Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program developed by the Department
					 pursuant to Water Code Section
					 10920 et seq.,
					 or as amended.
(l) "Data gap"
					 refers to a lack of information that significantly affects the understanding of
					 the basin setting or evaluation of the efficacy of Plan implementation, and
					 could limit the ability to assess whether a basin is being sustainably
					 managed.
(m) "Groundwater dependent
					 ecosystem" refers to ecological communities or species that depend on
					 groundwater emerging from aquifers or on groundwater occurring near the ground
					 surface.
(n) "Groundwater flow"
					 refers to the volume and direction of groundwater movement into, out of, or
					 throughout a basin.
(o)
					 "Interconnected surface water" refers to surface water that is hydraulically
					 connected at any point by a continuous saturated zone to the underlying aquifer
					 and the overlying surface water is not completely depleted.
(p) "Interested parties" refers to persons
					 and entities on the list of interested persons established by the Agency
					 pursuant to Water Code Section
					 10723.4.
(q) "Interim milestone" refers to a target
					 value representing measurable groundwater conditions, in increments of five
					 years, set by an Agency as part of a Plan.
(r) "Management area" refers to an area
					 within a basin for which the Plan may identify different minimum thresholds,
					 measurable objectives, monitoring, or projects and management actions based on
					 differences in water use sector, water source type, geology, aquifer
					 characteristics, or other factors.
(s) "Measurable objectives" refer to
					 specific, quantifiable goals for the maintenance or improvement of specified
					 groundwater conditions that have been included in an adopted Plan to achieve
					 the sustainability goal for the basin.
(t) "Minimum threshold" refers to a numeric
					 value for each sustainability indicator used to define undesirable
					 results.
(u) "NAD83" refers to the
					 North American Datum of 1983 computed by the National Geodetic Survey, or as
					 modified.
(v) "NAVD88" refers to
					 the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 computed by the National Geodetic
					 Survey, or as modified.
(w) "Plain
					 language" means language that the intended audience can readily understand and
					 use because that language is concise, well-organized, uses simple vocabulary,
					 avoids excessive acronyms and technical language, and follows other best
					 practices of plain language writing.
(x) "Plan" refers to a groundwater
					 sustainability plan as defined in the Act.
(y) "Plan implementation" refers to an
					 Agency's exercise of the powers and authorities described in the Act, which
					 commences after an Agency adopts and submits a Plan or Alternative to the
					 Department and begins exercising such powers and authorities.
(z) "Plan manager" is an employee or
					 authorized representative of an Agency, or Agencies, appointed through a
					 coordination agreement or other agreement, who has been delegated management
					 authority for submitting the Plan and serving as the point of contact between
					 the Agency and the Department.
(aa)
					 "Principal aquifers" refer to aquifers or aquifer systems that store, transmit,
					 and yield significant or economic quantities of groundwater to wells, springs,
					 or surface water systems.
(ab)
					 "Reference point" refers to a permanent, stationary and readily identifiable
					 mark or point on a well, such as the top of casing, from which groundwater
					 level measurements are taken, or other monitoring site.
(ac) "Representative monitoring" refers to a
					 monitoring site within a broader network of sites that typifies one or more
					 conditions within the basin or an area of the basin.
(ad) "Seasonal high" refers to the highest
					 annual static groundwater elevation that is typically measured in the Spring
					 and associated with stable aquifer conditions following a period of lowest
					 annual groundwater demand.
(ae)
					 "Seasonal low" refers to the lowest annual static groundwater elevation that is
					 typically measured in the Summer or Fall, and associated with a period of
					 stable aquifer conditions following a period of highest annual groundwater
					 demand.
(af) "Seawater intrusion"
					 refers to the advancement of seawater into a groundwater supply that results in
					 degradation of water quality in the basin, and includes seawater from any
					 source.
(ag) "Statutory deadline"
					 refers to the date by which an Agency must be managing a basin pursuant to an
					 adopted Plan, as described in Water Code Sections
					 10720.7 or
					 10722.4.
(ah) "Sustainability indicator" refers to any
					 of the effects caused by groundwater conditions occurring throughout the basin
					 that, when significant and unreasonable, cause undesirable results, as
					 described in Water Code Section
					 10721(x).
(ai) "Uncertainty" refers to a lack of
					 understanding of the basin setting that significantly affects an Agency's
					 ability to develop sustainable management criteria and appropriate projects and
					 management actions in a Plan, or to evaluate the efficacy of Plan
					 implementation, and therefore may limit the ability to assess whether a basin
					 is being sustainably managed.
(aj)
					 "Urban water management plan" refers to a plan adopted pursuant to the Urban
					 Water Management Planning Act as described in Part 2.6 of Division 6 of the
					 Water Code, commencing with Section
					 10610 et seq.
(ak) "Water source type" represents the
					 source from which water is derived to meet the applied beneficial uses,
					 including groundwater, recycled water, reused water, and surface water sources
					 identified as Central Valley Project, the State Water Project, the Colorado
					 River Project, local supplies, and local imported supplies.
(al) "Water use sector" refers to categories
					 of water demand based on the general land uses to which the water is applied,
					 including urban, industrial, agricultural, managed wetlands, managed recharge,
					 and native vegetation.
(am) "Water
					 year" refers to the period from October 1 through the following September 30,
					 inclusive, as defined in the Act.
(an) "Water year type" refers to the
					 classification provided by the Department to assess the amount of annual
					 precipitation in a basin.
1. New
						article 2 (section
						351) and section filed 8-15-2016
						as an emergency exempt from review by OAL pursuant to Water Code section
						10733.2(d);
						operative 8-15-2016. Pursuant to Water Code section
						10733.2(d),
						these regulations shall remain in effect until revised by the Department of
						Water Resources (Register 2016, No. 34).
Note: Authority cited: Section
						  10733.2, Water
						  Code. Reference: Sections
						  25,
						  10720.7,
						  10721,
						  10722,
						  10722.4,
						  10723,
						  10727.2,
						  10728,
						  10729,
						  10733.2,
						  10733.6 and
						  10924, Water
						  Code.