Delta-Mendota Subbasin Exits State Intervention, Returns to DWR; Tule and Tulare Lake Exclusions Set

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:39:44 +0000
Environmental Protection

The CA State Water Resources Control Board announced two SGMA actions on April 7, 2026. First, the Delta-Mendota Subbasin successfully exited state intervention, having consolidated its 23 groundwater agencies under a single unified sustainability plan with a drinking water well mitigation program, and will now return to DWR oversight—this is the fourth subbasin to exit intervention. Second, the board excluded small groundwater pumpers extracting 20 acre-feet or less annually in the Tule and Tulare Lake subbasins from state reporting and fee requirements; these approximately 3,000 pumpers account for less than 2% of groundwater pumped in those basins.