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Measuring California Groundwater’s Health

The state of California oversees water level monitoring for its 515 designated groundwater basins. Periodically, each basin and subbasin are scored on a statewide scale and given a priority level. This score is based both on elevation trends and the intensity of usage. Thus while Death Valley is considered very low priority, nearly all basins in the ag-heavy Central Valley are medium and high.  Related article »

Basin Prioritization, 2019

High Priority Basin
Medium Priority
Low Priority
Very Low

Source: California Department of Water Resources Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Basin Prioritization