After decades of groundwater overdraft, local groundwater sustainabil- ity agencies (GSAs) are tasked with bringing groundwater basins into balance by 2042 as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014.

While achieving the goals of SGMA is essential, the law’s implementation and 20-year timeline have had a number of unintended consequences on small farms that need to be addressed.

The expansive planting of almonds, pistachios, and other orchard crops in recent decades—which require more water than most row crops and field crops they replace, harden water demand, and increase groundwater pumping—has exacerbated these challenges.