Borrego Springs Groundwater Subbasin
The Borrego Springs Groundwater Subbasin (Basin) is designated by DWR as a critically overdrafted basin in a high priority for the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) in accordance with SGMA.
The Basin has a surface area of approximately 98 square miles or 62,776 acres. The western and southwestern boundary of the Subbasin is defined by the contact of poorly to moderately consolidated sediments with the plutonic and metamorphic basement of Pinyon Ridge and the San Ysidro Mountains. The northern and eastern boundaries are defined by the mapped trace of the Coyote Creek fault that trends northwest–southeast. East of the Coyote Creek fault lies Coyote Mountain, the Borrego Badlands, and the Ocotillo-Clark Valley Groundwater Basin. The southeastern boundary of the Plan Area is defined by the location of San Felipe Creek, which also marks the northern boundary of the Ocotillo Wells Groundwater Subbasin.
The Plan Area consists primarily of private land under County jurisdiction, which is surrounded on nearly all sides by land owned by the State of California. The primary developed land uses in the Plan Area are agriculture, residential, transportation infrastructure, and recreational (including golf courses). The public water district serving the Plan Area is the BWD, which provides water and sewer service to the developed portions of Borrego Valley within its service area. Within the Plan Area, the majority of the land is undeveloped open space.
Borrego Springs Watermaster
The Watermaster is a committee of representatives of the parties to the Judgment. The Watermaster convenes monthly to conduct its business and prepares an annual budget and assessment to fund its operations and activities. The Watermaster maintains this website for the purpose of disseminating important documents and data to the Parties, other stakeholders, and the interested public, such as meeting agendas and minutes, production and water-level elevation data, guiding documents, Watermaster forms.
Learn more about our Watermaster Board members here: Watermaster Board
History of the Borrego Springs Watermaster and the Physical Solution
In October 2016, the County of San Diego (County) and the Borrego Water District (BWD), formed the groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) for the Borrego Valley, to address the requirement to prepare a GSP. In August 2019, the County and BWD completed a draft final GSP in accordance with the DWR’s GSP Regulations defined in the CCR Title 23, Section 350 et seq. In accordance with a Settlement Agreement amongst Basin pumpers that were responsible for over 90 percent of the groundwater pumping in the Basin (Settling Parties), the GSP was subsequently modified and repurposed as the Groundwater Management Plan for the Borrego Springs Subbasin (GMP) to serve as an integral part of a “Physical Solution” in a groundwater rights adjudication of the Basin. In anticipation of the adjudication action, the County withdrew from the Borrego Valley GSA effective December 31, 2019.
In January 2020, a complaint seeking a comprehensive adjudication of the groundwater rights of the Basin was filed by the BWD in the CA Superior Court for San Diego County, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) sections 830, et seq (Borrego Water District v. All Persons Who Claim a Right to Extract Groundwater in the Borrego Valley Groundwater Subbasin, et al., San Diego Superior Court Case no. 37‑‑2020‑‑00005776‑‑CU‑TT‑CTL). The proposed Stipulated Judgment was filed with the Court pursuant to the Settlement Agreement. Additionally in January 2020, on behalf of the Settling Parties, the BWD submitted the proposed Stipulated Judgment and GMP to the DWR as an “Alternative” to a GSP, in accordance with CWC § 10733.6 (b).
The Settlement Agreement also provided for the establishment of an Interim Borrego Springs Watermaster to assume responsibility for the sustainable management of the Basin pursuant to the terms of the proposed Stipulated Judgment until finalized by the Court. The Interim Borrego Springs Watermaster held its first meeting on March 31, 2020. About a year later, on April 8, 2021, the honorable Judge Peter Wilson of the CA Superior Court for the County of Orange granted the motion for entry of the Judgment. As stated in Section II.F of the Judgment, the Court found that the Physical Solution for the Basin, which is comprised of the Judgment and GMP, is consistent with CWC §10737.8 and is a prudent, legal, and durable means to achieve sustainable groundwater management within the Basin as intended by SGMA. The entry of the Judgment represents the most important milestone for the Basin in achieving sustainability by 2040, as is required by SGMA for all critically over drafted basins.
The Watermaster held its first official meeting as a Court‑appointed entity on April 8, 2021. In accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the BWD withdrew as the Borrego Valley GSA on June 16, 2021 and informed DWR to direct all SGMA compliance matters to the Watermaster as the primary point of contact. This action formally dissolved the Borrego Valley GSA.
As part of the Judgment Findings and Order, the Court ordered the submittal of the final approved Judgment to DWR for evaluation and assessment. On June 15, 2021, pursuant to the Court order, the Watermaster re‑submitted a complete GSP Alternative submission package to the DWR documenting the Judgment’s Physical Solution (including the GMP) as its Alternative to a GSP. The submission package is available for review on the DWR’s SGMA Portal.
The DWR approved the Watermaster’s Alternative submission package on February 25, 2025. In a letter to the Watermaster, the DWR detailed its approval and assessment of the Judgment and GMP and provided recommended corrective actions.