Why Demand Management Matters

The Salinas Valley relies heavily on groundwater to support farms, communities, the environment, and the regional economy. Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) is responsible for managing six groundwater subbasins to avoid significant and unreasonable impacts such as seawater intrusion, declining water levels, degraded water quality, and loss of groundwater storage.

Demand management is one of the tools available to help achieve long-term groundwater sustainability. It means actively managing net pumping (groundwater extraction minus recoverable return flows) to maintain basin balance and avoid undesirable results. Demand management can be applied alongside projects that augment groundwater supplies and recharge to ensure the valley remains resilient under changing hydrologic conditions.

Background

When SGMA was passed in 2014, it required local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to develop and implement plans to achieve groundwater sustainability within 20 years. The SVBGSA manages six subbasins: the 180/400-Foot Aquifer, Eastside, Forebay, Upper Valley, Monterey, and Langley Area.

All six subbasins now have Department of Water Resources–approved Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). Each GSP identifies groundwater conditions, establishes sustainability criteria, presents water budgets, and outlines projects and management actions to achieve long-term balance. The GSPs recognize that both supply augmentation and demand management will be needed.

Since 2022, SVBGSA has advanced demand management planning through several activities:

  • Stakeholder Assessment (2022–2023): Assessed how stakeholders understand and support demand management.
  • Legal White Paper (2024): Summarized California law considerations for demand management. The white paper was prepared by Minasian in coordination with staff and legal counsel from Arroyo Seco GSA, Marina Coast Water District GSA, Monterey County Water Resources Agency, and Monterey County Environmental Health; and received by SVBGSA Board on March 13, 2025.
  • Community Workshops (2024): “Our Water Future in the Salinas Valley: Planning for Uncertainty.”
  • Economic and Financial Analyses (2024–2025): Evaluated costs and feasibility of different approaches.

This work culminated in the Draft Demand Management Framework (September 2025), presented to the SVBGSA Board in October 2025.

The Demand Management Framework

The Framework is a planning tool. It does not activate measures, but it provides a structure for how the SVBGSA can evaluate, prioritize, and implement measures if and when they are needed to meet SGMA requirements.

A Demand Management Stages chart

Key Components

  • Stages & Triggers: Five stages (0–4) classify groundwater conditions, from sustainable (Stage 0) to probation risk (Stage 4). Triggers include both long-term conditions (evaluated every five years) and short-term indicators (such as annual groundwater level declines or reduced reservoir releases).
  • Global Elements: Administrative requirements, funding approaches, technical and economic analysis, measurement methods, and a water accounting system.
  • Agricultural Measures (6): On-farm efficiency, demand management fee, rotational fallowing/fallow bank, land repurposing, pumping limits, penalties for excess use.
  • Domestic Measures (4): Education and outreach, incentivized efficiency (rebates), mandatory efficiency requirements, and water pricing mechanisms.
  • Costs and Feasibility: The Framework includes a preliminary assessment of costs to the agency, water users, and the regional economy. A more detailed quantitative analysis will follow.

Next Steps

The Framework establishes the foundation for future SVBGSA actions. Next steps include:

Recommending initial stage classifications for each subbasin based on triggers.

Expanding technical, financial, and economic analysis of demand management measures.

Developing rules and guidelines for prioritized measures.

Designing a water accounting and administrative system.

Integrating demand management evaluations with supply projects into an Integrated Implementation Strategy.

Documents and Resources