Groundwater sustainability agency: transparency.

Assembly Member Bennett's groundwater transparency measure requires California's groundwater sustainability agencies to publish their board membership and financial disclosure information online by January 2026. The legislation adds new public access requirements to the existing Sustainable Groundwater Management Act framework.

Under the measure, each groundwater sustainability agency must post the complete membership of its board of directors on either its own website or its local agency's website. Agencies must also provide an electronic link to the Fair Political Practices Commission's website where board members' and executives' statements of economic interests can be accessed. These statements, which board members and executives already file under current law, detail potential financial conflicts of interest.

The requirements take effect January 1, 2026, building upon existing transparency provisions for agencies that manage California's high- and medium-priority groundwater basins. While the measure creates new administrative duties for groundwater sustainability agencies, it requires no additional appropriations or fiscal committee review.