In 2014, California’s state legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a sweeping law with the goal of balancing the amount of water pumped out of underground aquifers with the amount returned through recharge. How that balancing act would actually work was left up to hundreds of locally governed …
Read More »Report: Groundwater Overhaul Could Threaten Drinking Water Of More Than A Million Valley Residents
As drought settles over the San Joaquin Valley, a new report warns of other circumstances that could result in entire communities losing drinking water. More than a million Valley residents could lose their public water in coming decades under the sweeping groundwater legislation known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act …
Read More »‘It Would Mean Total Annihilation’ – Some Farmers Sell Off Fields Ahead Of Groundwater Law
Even with his eyes closed, Doug Martin can recognize the sound of every tractor on his Hanford ranch. There’s the big silver work horse, and the 40-year-old Oliver that can still run his backup generator, but the one he looks at with love is a tiny green thing from 1958. …
Read More »As Groundwater Law Plows Forward, Small Farmers Seek More Engagement
Dennis Hutson’s rows of alfalfa, melons, okra and black-eyed peas are an oasis of green in the dry terrain of Allensworth, an unincorporated community in rural Tulare County. Hutson, currently cultivating on 60 acres, has a vision for many more fields bustling with jobs. “This community will forever be impoverished …
Read More »What Is ‘SGMA?’ A Primer On California’s Groundwater Overhaul Law
We in California are depleting our groundwater aquifers faster than we can replenish them. Over the last few decades in the San Joaquin Valley, that deficit has averaged close to two million acre-feet per year, a total that was exacerbated by drought conditions that may become more common as the …
Read More »Fresno State Symposium To Address Concerning Arsenic Levels in Groundwater
In June of this year, the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Communications published a research article linking over-pumping of the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater to rising concentrations of arsenic . The research caught the attention of water leaders from across the state, and on Thursday, October 11, many will be gathering …
Read More »Interview: Questions Remain About Possible Groundwater Contamination From Oil Production
Oil companies in California produce more water than oil. In the San Joaquin Valley that also has created a problem: what to do with all of that unwanted water? In most cases that wastewater is injected back into the ground, deep below the aquifer. But in some cases, injections may …
Read More »MID releases stormwater to recharge groundwater sapped amid drought
January’s storms have filled Lake McClure past its historical average, prompting water releases to help replenish groundwater, the Merced Irrigation District reported. Lake McClure was about 73 percent of capacity … Click to Continue »
Read More »Citing confusion and cost, farm water managers urge rewrite of new groundwater regulations
State taking public comment on rules until April 1 Water district managers say pending regulations causing confusion State wants a single point of contact per basin to simplify oversight … Click to Continue »
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