STATEWIDE NEWS
State calls on local agencies to protect groundwater
“For the first time in California history, local agencies and groundwater users are required to form groundwater sustainability agencies and develop and implement plans to guide how they will achieve groundwater basin sustainability goals over the next 20 years. As part of this process, agencies overseeing management of high- and medium-priority groundwater basins have until Jan. 31, 2022, to submit groundwater sustainability plans to the state to be reviewed by the California Department of Water Resources, the agency tasked with evaluating and assessing the plans. Last week, the agency released its second round of assessments of plans developed by local agencies required to bring groundwater basins into sustainability for the future. The actions are mandated under the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. The first round of assessments for critically overdrafted basins happened in June. … ” Read more from Ag Alert here: State calls on local agencies to protect groundwater
‘Everybody’s pumping.’ How California’s plan to conserve groundwater ran into a drought
“On the parched west side of the San Joaquin Valley, the drought has created a windfall for companies like Big River Drilling. A water-well contractor based in the Fresno County community of Riverdale, Big River can hardly keep up with demand for new wells as farmers and rural residents seek to extract more water from underground. “I could work seven days a week if I wanted to,” said owner Wesley Harmon. “In my area, everybody’s pumping. You can’t blame the farmers. They’re trying to make a living, they’re trying to grow food for everybody.” … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: ‘Everybody’s pumping.’ How California’s plan to conserve groundwater ran into a drought
Where is the water going? Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit
“Farmers in the heart of California’s agricultural belt – Kings County – sense something is awry with their water supplies. In this intensively farmed, perennially dry county, water is leaving at a concerning rate. “We’ve all seen it,” said walnut farmer Steve Walker. “We haven’t sat down and put dye in the water to watch where it actually goes. But everybody talks about it, and we’re all concerned.” As far as Walker knows, no agency, city or county board is trying to figure out what’s really happening. “There’s so many canals and ways it can move; it’s hard to track,” he said. But this much he knows — certain groundwater wells in the county are running practically year round, even in wet years. “So, it’s going somewhere,” Walker said. “And that’s the biggest issue. Because once it’s pumped out, we aren’t getting it back.” … ” Read more from SJV Water here: Where is the water going? Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit
Four valley groundwater plans fail to meet state standards – for now
“Four groundwater plans in the Central Valley — including those for Westlands Water District, Chowchilla Water District and the Merced and Eastern San Joaquin subbasins — don’t show how they will protect water quality, keep drinking water wells from going dry or stop already sinking land from sinking further, according to the Department of Water Resources. In short, those plans earned “D’s” in DWR’s first round of assessments of Central Valley groundwater plans. DWR expects to issue assessments on the remaining groundwater plans, about 36 that cover the valley from Madera to Kern counties, within the first two weeks of December. ... ” Read more from SJV Water here: Four valley groundwater plans fail to meet state standards – for now
Four San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans deemed inadequate
“The state’s water agency today lambasted groundwater plans drafted by some of California’s largest and most powerful agricultural water suppliers in the San Joaquin Valley, indicating that they fail to protect drinking water supplies from over-pumping. The four large groundwater basins at stake underlie stretches of San Joaquin, Merced, Madera and Fresno counties that are home to nearly 800,000 people and more than a million acres of irrigated agriculture. The letters sent by the state Department of Water Resources to the local districts that manage the basins have a common theme: a failure to address how pumping, largely for growers, will harm the drinking water supplies of local communities. … ” Read more from Cal Matters here: Four San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans deemed inadequate
State’s groundwater “cop” weighs in on plans to stop over pumping and finds them lax
“As California’s Central Valley water managers nervously await the first official Department of Water Resources responses to plans for how they expect to fix massive groundwater over pumping, some were dismayed to “stumble” on comments from a different, and very powerful, state water agency.The State Water Resources Control Board quietly submitted highly critical comments on five Central Valley groundwater sustainability plans in late summer that some local groundwater agencies only recently discovered. Since the Water Board is the ultimate enforcement arm of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the significance of these comments was immediately noted by water managers. … ” Read more from SJV Water here: State’s groundwater “cop” weighs in on plans to stop over pumping and finds them lax
State’s groundwater “cop” hands out more criticism of valley plans
“Another set of comments critical of how San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans will impact drinking water wells dropped on Friday from the powerful State Water Resources Control Board. The comments focused on plans that cover the City of Fresno and many surrounding towns as well as Visalia and a number of smaller towns in Tulare County. Specifically, it commented on plans covering most of the Kings and Kaweah subbasins. One of the Kaweah plans, which covers the communities of Lindsay and Strathmore in eastern Tulare County, could result in “the dewatering over over one-third of the domestic wells throughout the subbasin,” the Water Board letter states. … ” Read more from SJV Water here: State’s groundwater “cop” hands out more criticism of valley plans
Central Valley groundwater may not recover from droughts
“Groundwater in Calif.’s Central Valley is at risk of being depleted by pumping too much water during and after droughts, according to a new study in the American Geophysical Union journal Water Resources Research. The study finds that groundwater storage recovery has been dismal after the state’s last two droughts, with less than a third of groundwater recovered from the drought that spanned 2012 to 2016. Under a best-case scenario where drought years are followed by consecutive wet years with above-average precipitation, the researchers found there is a high probability it would take six to eight years to fully recover overdrafted water. … ” Continue reading from Water World here: Central Valley groundwater may not recover from droughts
REGIONAL SGMA NEWS
Lake County: Big Valley Basin draft groundwater sustainability plan released for public review
“The Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency and Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan Advisory Committee have released the draft groundwater sustainability plan for the Big Valley Groundwater Basin for public review. The Big Valley Basin Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan, or GSP, is now available for review during a formal 21-day public comment period that ends Dec. 3. The GSP is being prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, or SGMA, which was amended in 2015. Deputy Water Resources Director Marina Deligiannis told Lake County News that the Big Valley Draft GSP is the first and only draft GSP prepared for Lake County as required by SGMA. … ” Read more from the Lake County News here: Big Valley Basin draft groundwater sustainability plan released for public review
WEIRD SCIENCE: The sky hoop will tell us about Ukiah Valley Basin’s groundwater aquifer
“If you were in the Ukiah Valley yesterday, you may have noticed a helicopter towing a giant hoop in the sky. That hoop is equipped with technology that will fill an important data gap as agencies across the state try to figure out how to better manage their groundwater aquifers. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) flew the helicopter over the area with Nordic company Skytem’s geophysical survey equipment attached to the giant hoop on Thursday, Nov. 11. The signals that equipment sends to and receives from the Earth provide invaluable data about the structure of the groundwater basin and aquifer, but not how much water is inside them, said Katherine Dlubac, who is on DWR’s airborne electromagnetic survey team. … ” Read more from the Mendocino Voice here: WEIRD SCIENCE: The sky hoop will tell us about Ukiah Valley Basin’s groundwater aquifer
Yuba Groundwater Sustainability Plan formally approved by Department of Water Resources
“The California Department of Water Resources today formally approved the groundwater sustainability plan for the North and South Yuba groundwater subbasins in Yuba County. The plan was developed by Yuba Water Agency in coordination with Cordua Irrigation District, the City of Marysville and dozens of stakeholders to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. “The sustainable groundwater conditions in Yuba County and today’s announcement are testaments to the success of locally-driven water management,” said Scott Matyac, Yuba Water’s director of water resources. “We’re grateful to our local partners for their work on this plan and their continued commitment to protecting this critical resource for our region.” … ” Read more from Yuba Water Agency here: Yuba Groundwater Sustainability Plan formally approved by Department of Water Resources
Commentary: Scary developments at Nevada Irrigation District
Jeff Litton writes, “You might have missed it, but something scary just happened at NID on Nov. 10. First, I want to thank our two excellent NID directors — Ricki Heck and Laura Peters. These directors are experienced, smart, and think critically. The other three NID directors voted to remove NID from the Groundwater Sustainability Agency, a vitally important group of agencies that work together to protect the groundwater of the region. This network of agencies collaborates to make sure groundwater is sustainably managed, and thereby protects wells from going dry. … ” Read more from The Union here: Commentary: Scary developments at Nevada Irrigation District
Sonoma County backs well water regulations, favoring new era of groundwater oversight
“Hailed as a complex and historic step, Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed plans to guide use and governance of groundwater relied on by rural residents, farmers and cities. The plans, required by a 2014 state law crafted amid California’s past drought, will eventually include well water use fees in three basins underlying the Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma and Petaluma valleys. The plans, four years in the works and due for submission to the state Department of Water Resources in January, are “extraordinarily complex, politically charged and technically nuanced,” board Chair Lynda Hopkins said. … ” Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat here: Sonoma County backs well water regulations, favoring new era of groundwater oversight
Pajaro Valley Water Board adopts basin management plan: Groundwater Sustainability Update 2022
“The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PV Water) Board of Directors unanimously adopted the Basin Management Plan: Groundwater Sustainability Update 2022 (GSU22) on Wednesday evening. The action came after more than a year of work on the plan by a 17 member Ad Hoc Sustainable Groundwater Committee, staff, consultants, and interested parties, which included 23 meetings in total. The Board meeting was attended by 29 people and many provided remarks during a public hearing, after which the Board took action. Adoption of the Plan, which includes newly developed sustainable groundwater management criteria, is a significant achievement and a requirement under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, a 2014 law requiring groundwater basins in California to achieve sustainable groundwater resources by 2040. A $500,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources, under Proposition 68, provided funding for this effort. … ” Read more from the Pajaro Valley Water Agency here: Pajaro Valley Water Board adopts basin management plan: Groundwater Sustainability Update 2022
Conservation ethic allows Monterey Bay farmers to thrive during drought
“Despite October’s record-setting rains, Central Valley farmers are still reeling from having their water supplies drastically reduced when the drought intensified last spring. Many farmers have been forced to rip out crops that can no longer be irrigated. Some have doubled or tripled their groundwater pumping as wells dry up before their eyes. In the Monterey Bay area, however, crops reach toward the sun with thirst-quenched leaves. Well levels aren’t raising any alarms and the threat of losing water supplies has mostly subsided. “I don’t know anybody having water issues right now,” said Joe Schirmer, owner of Dirty Girl Produce, a 40-acre organic farm in Watsonville. … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald here: Conservation ethic allows Monterey Bay farmers to thrive during drought
Ventura: CA DWR passes Groundwater Sustainability Plan for Fox Canyon GMA
“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has approved the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plans, covering Oxnard and Pleasant Valley Basins—its two critically over-drafted basins. The California Department of Water Resources released its second round of assessments of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) developed by local agencies to meet the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requirements. ... ” Read more from The Patch here: Ventura: CA DWR passes Groundwater Sustainability Plan for Fox Canyon GMA
Rosamond Community Services District eyes eminent domain process to obtain water rights
“The Rosamond Community Services District Board of Directors, on Thursday, agreed to begin eminent domain proceedings to obtain water rights from agricultural land owned by the Calandri family on Rosamond’s west side. The Board unanimously approved a Resolution of Necessity, which declared it in the public interest to acquire the property for the water rights. Ed Lear, a litigation attorney representing the Calandri family, said they will challenge the action as a violation of the water basin adjudication. … ” Read more from the Antelope Valley Press here: Rosamond Community Services District eyes eminent domain process to obtain water rights