The Natural Communities Commonly Associated with Groundwater (NCCAG) dataset is a compilation of phreatophytic vegetation, regularly flooded natural wetlands and riverine areas, and springs and seeps extracted from 48 publicly available state and federal agency datasets. Two habitat classes are included in the dataset: wetland features commonly associated with the surface expression of groundwater under natural, unmodified conditions; and vegetation types commonly associated with the sub-surface presence of groundwater (phreatophytes). The NCCAG dataset began as an amalgamation of vegetation and wetland datasets with different scales, resolutions, attribute details, and classifications. A working group comprised of DWR, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) further reviewed the vegetation and wetland datasets and conducted a screening process to identify the vegetation and wetland types considered to be commonly associated with groundwater (Klausmeyer et al., 2018). The NCCAG dataset can be used as a starting point to investigate and identify groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) within a groundwater basin. Identifying GDEs requires detailed understanding of the land use, groundwater levels, hydrology, and geology of a location. This comprehensive understanding of geology, hydrology, and biology is not available at the statewide scale. Further investigation and verification of the connection and dependence between groundwater and mapped vegetation and wetlands at a local scale may be needed for water managers in sustainable groundwater management planning.
