The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), enacted in 2014, required local agencies to manage groundwater.  Five local agencies — the City of Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, San Miguel Community Services District (SMCSD), Shandon-San Juan Water District, and Estrella-El Pomar-Creston Water District — formed GSAs and collaborated under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to develop the Groundwater Sustainability Plan  (GSP) to sustainably manage the portions of the Paso Robles Basin underlying their combined service areas (i.e. all portions of the Basin located within San Luis Obispo County).

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With the GSP now approved by the State, a long-term governance structure was recently adopted to implement it more effectively.  The Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (JPA), adopted in March 2025, supplants the MOA, and creates a legal entity, the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority (Authority), to oversee and fund GSP implementation. The 4-Party JPA defines governance, voting rights, funding mechanisms, and responsibilities. The Authority will be funded primarily through groundwater extraction fees, though initial costs would be covered by contributions from the GSAs. The Authority has powers to regulate and manage groundwater use but does not replace the individual GSAs.  San Miguel Community Services District elected not to participate in the JPA.

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• City of Paso Robles

• County of San Luis Obispo

• Estrella-El Pomar-Creston 

• Shandon-San Juan Water District

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