Established in 2017 under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the Bedford Coldwater Groundwater Sustainability Authority (BCGSA) formed with the goal of achieving long-term groundwater sustainability in the Bedford Coldwater Groundwater Basin, a subbasin of the Elsinore Groundwater Basin.

BGCSA was formed as a result of a Joint Powers Agreement on March 29, 2017 to create a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) consisting of the City of Corona, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, and Temescal Valley Water District. The BCGSA acts as the Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for the Bedford Coldwater Groundwater Subbasin (Subbasin), a subbasin of the Elsinore Groundwater Basin.

The BCGSA was responsible for creating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) to achieve long-term groundwater sustainability in the Subbasin in accordance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), legislation passed in California in 2014. The SGMA is designed to give local control to the sustainable management of groundwater supplies. Each of the BCGSA’s member agencies overlie a portion of the Subbasin and exercise water management, water supply, or land use authority within a portion of the Subbasin. Together as the BCGSA, these three agencies understand the critical need to be proactive and collaborate to sustainably manage their groundwater resources.