Cal. Code Regs. tit. 23 § 351

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 351 - Definitions

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.

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 351

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.