Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan

The Big Valley Groundwater Basin (BVGB, Basin, or Big Valley) lies on the border of Modoc and Lassen counties in one of the most remote and untouched areas of California. The sparsely populated Big Valley has a rich biodiversity of wildlife and native species who live, feed and raise young on the irrigated lands throughout the Basin. The snow-fed high desert streams entering the Basin have seasonal hydrographs with natural periods of reduced flows or complete cessation of flows late in the summer season. The Pit River is the largest stream and is so named because of the practice, employed by the Achumawi and other Native American bands that are now part of the Pit River Tribe, of digging pits in the river channel when it went dry to expose water and trap game that came to water at the river. Farming and ranching in Big Valley date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when families immigrated to Big Valley and made use of the existing water resources. A large amount of the land in the Basin is still owned and farmed by the families who homesteaded here.

Historically, agriculture was complemented by a robust timber industry as a key component of the economy for Big Valley, which supported four lumber mills. Due to regulations and policies imposed by state and federal governments, the timber industry has been diminished over time and subsequently caused a great economic hardship to the Big Valley communities. Stakeholders realize that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 (SGMA) will unfortunately cause a similar decline to agriculture. The change in land management has transformed once thriving communities in the Basin to “disadvantaged” and “severely disadvantaged” communities. Viable agriculture is of paramount importance to the residents of Big Valley because it supports the local economy and unique character of the community. As required by SGMA, stakeholders have developed a sustainability goal:

The sustainability goal for the Big Valley Groundwater Basin is to maintain a locally governed, economically feasible, sustainable groundwater basin and surrounding watershed for existing and future legal beneficial uses with a concentration on agriculture. Sustainable management will be conducted in context with the unique culture of the basin, character of the community, quality of life of the Big Valley residents, and the vested right of agricultural pursuits through the continued use of groundwater and surface water.

Lassen and Modoc counties are fulfilling their unfunded, mandated roles as Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to develop this Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) after exhausting its administrative challenges to the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR’s) determination that Big Valley qualifies as a medium-priority basin. Both counties are disadvantaged, have declining populations, and have no ability to cover the costs of GSP development and implementation.