YSGA Groundwater Data Map

Explore groundwater levels at monitoring wells throughout the Subbasin. 

Water Resources Information Database

For engineering or scientific access to our groundwater database. 

California Water Watch

This site offers the most current local and statewide water conditions down to your region and even your neighborhood. 

California's Groundwater Live

California's Groundwater Live provides a statewide analysis of up-to-date groundwater conditions. 

California Data Exchange Center

Hosts real-time hydrologic and climate data. 

SGMA Data Viewer

A DWR map application for viewing a variety of data, including groundwater levels, land subsidence, and water quality information. 

USGS Water Data Dashboard

Provides a real-time glance at weather and hydrologic conditions nationwide. 

GDE Pulse

This tool from The Nature Conservancy shows potential trends in plant health among groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDE's). 

OpenET

OpenET uses best available science to provide easily accessible satellite-based estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) for improved water management across the western United States. Using the Data Explorer, users can explore ET data at the field scale for millions of individual fields or at the original quarter-acre resolution of the satellite data.

DWR's SGMA Program

Learn about the basics of SGMA and subscribe to DWR updates. 

Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District

The irrigation district providing surface water and groundwater recharge for much of Yolo County. Also maintains a library of historical reports relating to water in Yolo County. 

Maven's Notebook

An independent news blog providing daily updates in California water news. 

California Water Library

A catalog of various water reports organized by topic and hydrologic region. 

GroundwaterU

An online video library of groundwater information. 

USGS SGMA Center

A  variety of resources and reports organized by sustainability indicator. 

Stanford Water in the West: "Fair Water"

Stanford Water in the West: Fair Water - The study, published in Society and Natural Resources, evaluated 137 surveys of Yolo County farmers to gauge their perceptions of fairness for groundwater allocation strategies and dispute resolution options. (April 2020)

California's Agriculture Special Issue: SGMA Act (2018)

Groundwater management in Yolo County is discussed in many of the publications in this Special Issue of California Agriculture.

Getting Involved in Groundwater: A Guide to California's Groundwater Sustainability Plans

This guide is designed to help you get involved in developing a local groundwater sustainability plan, a requirement of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Using this guide and online toolkit, a diverse range of people can equip themselves to effectively participate in shaping the vision and plan for their community around maintaining groundwater supplies.(September 2017)

Emergency Regulation for Implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act - SWRCB

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt, by emergency regulation, a schedule of fees to cover the costs associated with state intervention. 

On May 16, 2016, the State Water Board adopted resolution 2017-33 to adopt an Emergency Regulation for Implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 (SGMA). On June 19, 2017, the regulation was submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review. OAL approved the regulation on June 29, 2017. 

For State Water Resources Control Board Intervention Fees for Unmanaged Portions of Groundwater Basins, please see the Draft Emergency Regulation for State Intervention Fact Sheet. (5/16/2017)

To Consolidate or Coordinate: Status of the Formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agenies in California

This report provides a preliminary look at whether local agencies are pursuing consolidate (single GSA) or coordinated (multiple GSA) approaches to managing groundwater basins, and why.  Yolo County is a highlighted case study! (December 2016)

Designing Effective Groundwater Sustainability Agencies: Criteria for Evaluation of Local Governance Options

The primary purpose of this document is to assist stakeholders and decision makers in evaluating the design of GSAs. It aims to empower them to think critically about whether proposed GSAs will meet their needs now and in the future, and—if not—which tools may help to achieve these goals. The framework presented here draws on experience in other natural resource management contexts and on research on governance and institutional design to provide lessons learned and illustrative examples. (March 2016)

Measuring What Matters: Setting Measurable Objectives to Achieve Sustainable Groundwater Management in California

To understand how GSAs might develop effective measurable objectives and to inform the GSP regulations currently under development by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), this report provides a review of the state of knowledge and practice related to setting measurable objectives for groundwater management.

The 2014 SGMA: A Handbook to Understanding and Implementing the Law

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) gives local agencies the authorities to manage groundwater in a sustainable manner and allows for limited state intervention when necessary to protect groundwater resources. The SGMA requires the creation of groundwater sustainability agencies to develop and implement local plans allowing 20 years to achieve sustainability. The SGMA provides a state framework to regulate groundwater for the first time in California history. (October 2015)

Know Your Options: A Guide to Forming Groundwater Sustainability Agencies

This Groundwater Sustainability Agency Formation Guide is meant to provide local agencies with a resource for GSA formation and GSP coordination. (September 2015)

Ongoing - DWR's Bulletin 118

California’s Groundwater features current knowledge of groundwater resources including information on the location, characteristics, use, management status, and conditions of the State’s groundwater. The publication also presents findings and recommendations that support the future management and protection of groundwater.

2014 - Sacramento Valley Groundwater Assessment

This analysis by NCWA presents the current conditions of the groundwater resource in the Sacramento Valley and outlines the management challenges ahead. 

June 2006 - Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Groundwater Management Plan

This Groundwater Management Plan (GWMP) is intended to comply with Assembly Bill 3030 and Senate Bill 1938 (Water Code sections 10750 through 10756). The Plan covers the service area of the District. 

May 2006 - Yolo County Integrated Groundwater and Surface Model

County-wide modeling of the groundwater aquifer and surface water system.

July 2004 - Groundwater Monitoring Program, Data Management System, and Update of Groundwater Conditions in the Yolo County Area

Provides a County-wide assessment of groundwater levels and quality and establishes a comprehensive groundwater monitoring program under the AB 303 program. 

1997 - Lower Colusa Basin Conjunctive Use Investigation

Explores groundwater conditions and water demand in the northern part of Yolo County. 

1992 - Eastern Yolo County Groundwater Investigation

This report was compiled by West Yost Associates to assess the impact of groundwater pumping in Eastern Yolo County during the 1991 drought. 

1989 - Texture distribution of the younger alluvial sediments and parts of the Tehama Formation in portions of Yolo, Solano, Colusa, and Sacramento Counties, California

A thesis report that used well logs to determine the depth of alluvial deposits and the top of the underlying Tehama Formation. 

1976 - Yolo County Investigation of Water Resources

Investigates groundwater supply, extraction, and potential for groundwater overdraft in Yolo County, providing an early approximation of the Subbasin's water balance. 

TreAltima InSAR Dataset

InSAR, or Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, uses radar measurements from satellites to estimate the displacement in the ground surface. The data from DWR is updated quarterly and accessible on SGMA Data Viewer. 

2017 - GPS Survey of the Sacramento Valley Subsidence Network

The California Department of Water Resources conducted a re-observation of subsidence in the Sacramento Valley Network in summer 2017. The Final Report was released in December 2018. For more information please contact Project Manager Seth Lawrence and Surveyor James West in DWR's Red Bluff regional office.

2017 - Stanford University Presentation on InSAR Results

This project assessed the viability of the InSAR technology for evaluating subsidence within Yolo County. 

2016 - Land Subsidence from Groundwater Use in California

This report confirms that land subsidence in California is not just a historical occurrence, but is an ongoing problem in many regions.  The report presents key examples of significant historical subsidence and current active occurrences of subsidence, including the impacts and costs.  The Yolo County GPS and Extensometer Subsidence Network efforts are briefly discussed in the report.

2016 - Yolo County Subsidence Network, 2016 Monitoring Event

The observation data was collected in June 2016 with the leadership of Jim Frame, Frame Surveying & Mapping, from Davis. The WRA, Yolo County, Conaway Ranch and the Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conseration District provided the funding for this project. 

2008 - Yolo County Vertical Deformation Analysis [1999-2008]

The Yolo County Subsidence Network monitoring project was the template and inspiration for DWR to expand a monitoring project throughout the Sacramento Valley.  Jim Frame, Frame Surveying and DWR staff coordinated the surveying activities. In Yolo County, the cities of Davis and Woodland,   Observations in Yolo County took place between May 2 to May 22, 2008.

2005 - Yolo County GPS Subsidence Network Recommendations and Continued Monitoring

This report by Don D'Onofrio and Jim Frame provides updated data to their 1999 and 2003 reports. 

2003 - Yolo County GPS Subsidence Network Recommendations and Continued Monitoring

This report presents the results of the 2002 GPS survey event in comparison to 1999. 

1994 - Global Positioning System surveying to monitor land subsidence in Sacramento Valley

A brief description of GPS surveying is followed by a summary of each of four surveys between 1985 and 1989. In addition to periodic conventional spirit levelling, an examination was made of the changes in GPS-derived ellipsoidal height differences (summary differences) between pairs of adjacent bench marks in central Sacramento Valley from 1986 to 1989. 

1990 - Monitoring Land Subsidence in Sacramento Valley, CA, Using GPS

Examines the extent and impacts of land subsidence in the Sacramento Valley between 1949 and 1990. 

1973 - Preliminary Investigation of Land Subsidence in the Sacramento Valley

This USGS report identifies apparent land subsidence between two surveys in 1949 and 1967. 

Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program

The Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) is a statewide program initiated in 2003 with focus on protecting surface waters; groundwater regulations were added in 2012. The Yolo County Farm Bureau administers the program within Yolo County. 

Sacramento Valley Water Quality Coalition

Provides annual reports on the status of water quality monitoring in the Sacramento Valley.

2012 Nitrate Fingerprinting and Groundwater Determination Age Study

The study examines the sources of nitrate contamination in wells and age of groundwater within Yolo County. 

1985 - Chemical quality of ground water in Yolo and Solano Counties

Ground-water-quality conditions were investigated in Yolo and Solano Counties during the summers of 1980 and 1981 by sampling 188 representative wells. Chemical analyses of the water samples show that the ground water is suitable for domestic and most agricultural purposes. Water samples from wells near the Sacramento River generally contained lower concentrations of dissolved solids and higher concentrations of trace elements than the rest of the study area.

Water Quality Databases

SWRCB GeoTracker

Data from Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, cleanup sites, oil & gas production, underground storage tanks, and land disposal sites. Includes programs run by State Water Board and other agencies.

SWRCB GAMA Groundwater Information System

Accumulation of groundwater quality data from state & regional boards, DWR, Department of Pesticide Regulations, USGS, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and local entities.

DTSC EnviroStor

Data from hazardous waste facilities and contaminated sites.

State Drinking Water Information System

Compliance monitoring and results for all public water systems.

California Integrated Water Quality System

Tracks places of interest; manages permits and inspections. Includes Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) and WDRs waiver records.

Cache Creek Catalog

An online catalogue of documents pertaining to Cache Creek and adjacent areas in Yolo and Lake counties has been made available through the Water Resources Center Archives. Users of the catalogue can locate technical reports, newsletters, maps, photographs and videos regarding Cache Creek.

Cache Creek Area Plan

The Cache Creek Area Plan (CCAP) is a rivershed management plan adopted by Yolo County in 1996 for 14.5 miles of lower Cache Creek, between the Capay Dam and the town of Yolo. The Technical Advisory Committee monitors the status of the creek and publishes annual status reports. 

Putah Creek Annotated Bibliograpy

Provides links and descriptions of historical reports about Putah Creek and the surrounding area. 

Sacramento River Library 

A collection hosted by the Sacramento River Forum. Here you can find a large amount of information, maps, books, documents, and personal knowledge on the Sacramento River.

Solano County Water Agency

Provides continuous monitoring of flows along Putah Creek, a riparian flow forecast, and hydrogeological modeling of the creek. 

Streamflow Depletion by Wells - Understanding and Managing the Effects of Groundwater Pumping on Streamflow

A USGS publication explaining how groundwater pumping reduces the amount of groundwater that flows to streams and, in some cases, can draw streamflow into the underlying groundwater system. Streamflow reductions (or depletions) caused by pumping have become an important water-resource management issue because of the negative impacts that reduced flows can have on aquatic ecosystems, the availability of surface water, and the quality and aesthetic value of streams and rivers.

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

A 16,600 acre wetland area managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife according to the Land Management Plan. 

Yolo County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan

The plan identifies and prioritized water resource issues and projects in five categories:

• Water supply and drought preparedness
• Water quality
• Flood control and storm drainage
• Recreation
• Riparian and aquatic ecosystem enhancement

Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Reports

A variety of technical reports on irrigation operations and conjuctive use projects for the Cache Creek watershed.