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In August 2014, the California Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), marking a fundamental shift in the management of water resources in California. For the first time, groundwater in the state will have to be managed to protect the long-term reliability of the resource. SGMA is thus an important step forward, but achieving the objective of sustainability will ultimately depend on the commitment and participation of a large number of actors throughout its implementation.

The Clean Water Act has many tools that can be used to address sources of pollution that impact drinking water sources. This current guide focuses on how Public Water Systems can use Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System pollution permits, which control surface water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge into surface waters, to improve and protect the quality of drinking water sources.

The transition from Governor Baker’s first term to his second term saw a change of leadership at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), as Secretary Beaton stepped down in April of 2019 and Governor Baker appointed now-secretary Kathleen Theoharides to lead the agency. During Governor Baker’s first term, our groups produced a detailed annual report card for EEA. In this performance review of eea’s work during the first term to second term transition, we give overall issue grades to establish a baseline for the second term while providing top recommendations for eea’s