California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is a necessary step toward ending decades of unsustainable groundwater pumping. Yet, as local agencies work to achieve groundwater sustainability and farms across the state adapt to new regulations, there is a growing risk that small farms face disproportionate challenges in understanding and adapting to those rules. These producers anchor rural communities, local food systems, and cultural heritage across California, while contributing the least to groundwater overdraft.