FOSR members are actively participating in Siskiyou County’s planning to meet the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

The groundwater plan for the Shasta Valley is being rolled out chapter by chapter.  The first 3 chapters have been presented and commented upon, including comments from Friends of the Shasta River. The County has said it will present succeeding chapters as they complete them between now and June 2021.  As commenters, we need to look at it very closely to make sure the public won’t be conned.
Anyone is welcome to email Matt Parker, Natural Resources Specialist, to get on the mailing list for the link to the virtual meetings and/or to submit comments:  mparker@co.siskiyou.ca.us

California depends on groundwater for a major portion of its annual water supply, particularly during times of drought. This reliance on groundwater has resulted in overdraft and unsustainable groundwater usage in many of California’s basins. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was enacted in order to halt overdraft and bring groundwater basins into balanced levels of pumping and recharge. Under SGMA, basins must reach sustainability within 20 years of implementing their plans.

If properly done, groundwater planning will go far to protect all groundwater uses, including in-stream flows that are the underpinning of the Shasta River. But if a “business as usual” approach slips through, it could be decades before that approach could be remedied. As citizen volunteers attending the planning meetings, FOSR members are providing steady input needed to protect the stream.