Presentations 2016

Understanding the timing and duration of implementation processes of groundwater management plans (GMPs) under AB3030 in California

Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Davis

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The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014, endows all groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) with regulatory and financial powers to develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs). Prior to its passage, however, there were a number of existing governance structures for groundwater management. Assembly Bill 3030 (AB3030) authorized local agencies to voluntarily prepare and implement groundwater management plans (GMPs) across the State. Given the passage of AB3030 in 1992, how long did local institutional processes take until the adoption of voluntary GMPs? We intend to apply an event history model where the outcome variable of interest is the number of months required for each groundwater basin to implement GMPs under AB3030. We will estimate the model using a variety of independent variables such as heterogeneity in socioeconomic status and race, physical variables such as groundwater basin size, level of overdraft and groundwater dependency for water supply, and a capacity variable such as the size of the water district. Understanding the timing of institutional change provides a deeper understanding of the political and economic dynamics involved with the development of local groundwater institutions. Some of the same variables that influenced the implementation of AB3030 will also influence the implementation of SGMA, which builds on previous efforts.