Best Management Practices and Guidance Documents
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), Water Code Section 10729(d), directed DWR to “publish on its internet Web site best management practices for the sustainable management of groundwater,” by January 1, 2017. We developed and published 2 categories of information – Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Guidance Documents – to assist Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).
BMPs and Guidance Documents are not substitutes for GSP Regulations or the statutory provisions of SGMA. With the exception of 2 specific BMPs addressed in the GSP Regulations (Section 352.2, Monitoring Protocols and Section 352.4, Data and Reporting Standards), SGMA and the GSP Regulations provide no direction or limitation with respect to what type of BMPs and Guidance Documents should be developed to assist GSAs with making sustainable groundwater management decisions. DWR may develop additional BMPs and Guidance Documents, or make revisions to the existing publications, as needed.
The Groundwater Sustainability Plan Emergency Regulations (GSP Regulations), which were adopted in May 2016, define BMPs as “the 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.”
In brief, BMPs provide:
- Clarification
- Guidance
- Examples to help GSAs develop the essential elements of a GSP
We developed the BMPs based on technical information from other groundwater management efforts, existing standards, and other guidance or reference reports.

BMP Resources
Guidance Documents address topic areas unique to SGMA, for topics where no established practices in the water management industry exist, and which may not have been specifically identified in the GSP Regulations.
Contact Us
General Inquiries:
sgmps@water.ca.gov
Regional Inquiries:
sgmp_rc@water.ca.gov
Basin Points of Contact:
Northern Region
North Central Region
South Central Region
Southern Region