On November 13, 2023, the Sixth District Court of Appeal issued the first published decision interpreting California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) in City of Marina et al., v. County of Monterey et al., Case No. H049575. The case arose after the County of Monterey elected to form a groundwater sustainability agency (“GSA”) to resolve overlapping claims to manage groundwater in a small area of the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin known as the CEMEX Area, a seaside parcel on which CEMEX previously operated a sand-mining facility and is now proposed to house a desalination plant to provide fresh water to residents of Monterey County. The Court upheld the trial court’s determination that the County of Monterey Groundwater Sustainability Agency, rather than the City of Marina, has the authority to manage groundwater in the CEMEX Area.