Authorities in the most over-pumped basins would have to submit sustainability plans to the state by January 2020. Other basins ranked as a priority would have another two years to adopt a plan. The agencies would then have an additional 20 years to stop serious overdraft, which means the full force of the measures wouldn’t be felt until at least 2040.
For some experts, that is too long. “Meanwhile the problem gets more and more protracted and the potential exists for more and more irreversible damage,” said Richard Frank, director of the California Environmental Law & Policy Center at UC Davis.
The bill also leaves wiggle room for local agencies. They are supposed to manage basins to avoid “an undesirable result,” including a “significant and unreasonable depletion of supply” and “significant and unreasonable land subsidence.” But the measure doesn’t define “significant and unreasonable.”
The package was supported by the Assn. of California Water Agencies but opposed by agricultural interests.
“We thought these bills were too far-reaching,” said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation. “They open the door for lawsuits on the environmental side of things…. But we also realize we can’t continue to pump at will.”
Drought and environmentally related cuts in surface water deliveries have increased groundwater demand, he said.
“We do know what our aquifers are doing and farmers have been concerned for years,” Wenger added. “But when you have a huge mortgage and you have a huge investment and you have employees dependent on you, you do kind of look the other way — and it’s unfortunate.”
Under the legislation, local basin managers will have a number of powers: They can collect fees from groundwater users, monitor withdrawals, limit pumping and buy water or water rights to replenish aquifers.
“Some farmers are going to be having to cut back at least in the short run,” said Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources, which is part of the University of California system.
The legislation will have little effect on coastal Southern California, where groundwater litigation years ago resulted in heavily managed aquifers. In other parts of the state, though, local water officials don’t know the condition of their aquifers, Parker said.
“It’s just been willful ignorance of what the groundwater basin can and can’t do,” he said.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-groundwater-20140908-story.html