Published in Last Word
The California legislature passed a bill over the weekend that calls for local and state management of groundwater supplies. California has been the only state in the nation not to monitor or regulate groundwater.
The legislation, which Governor Brown is expected to sign, requires groundwater basins to form a local management agency within two years, adopt a sustainable management plan within five years, and achieve a sustainable supply of groundwater within 20 years.
Unlike the current situation in which landowners can pump as much groundwater as they want without accountability, the new bill mandates that each groundwater basin report every landowner's pumping quantities and the depth of groundwater each year.
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