SGMA in the news …

Groundwater: A firehose of paperwork is pointed at state water officials:  “The onslaught of paperwork will be mind boggling. Eye popping. Elephant choking. Pick your metaphor and it still won’t capture the situation.  When the calendar strikes Jan. 31, 2020, water agencies around the state will have sent hundreds of thousands of pages of technical data, plans and comments meant to shore up groundwater levels in our most overdrafted areas.  Officials at the state Department of Water Resources are expecting about 45 groundwater sustainability plans to be filed by the deadline. They’ll come from 19 water basins bunched mostly in the Central Valley that are considered critically overdrafted per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. … ”  Read more from SJV Water here: Groundwater: A firehose of paperwork is pointed at state water officials

Trading water: Can water shares help save California’s aquifers? “California is by far the United States’ most populous state, as well as its largest agricultural producer. Increasingly, it is also one of the country’s most parched places. But Edgar Terry, a fourth-generation farmer in Ventura County, just outside Los Angeles, thinks he has a key to reversing worsening water stress: establishing tradeable rights to shares of fast-depleting groundwater aquifers. … ” Read more from Reuters here: Trading water: Can water shares help save California’s aquifers?

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Sonoma County: Groundwater monitoring wells: a ‘picture’ of underground water connections for groundwater sustainability plans:  Ann DuBay writes, “During the months of October and November, up to  21 groundwater monitoring wells will be drilled near Sonoma County creeks   to provide new information to managers and the public on the link between groundwater and stream flows. Coordination and construction of the wells are a technical service provided by the   California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to Sonoma County’s three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs).  Each well will be about 50 feet deep, and will be designed specifically for measuring water levels throughout the year. … ”  Read more from the Sonoma Gazette here: Sonoma County: Groundwater monitoring wells: a ‘picture’ of underground water connections for groundwater sustainability plans

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

San Joaquin County: Water in the bank: Coalition of agencies develops ‘historic’ sustainable groundwater plan:  “There’s progress to report in the momentous task of ensuring that San Joaquin County and surrounding communities have enough water to meet anticipated needs for the next 20 years.  Earlier this month, the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Authority — or ESJGWA, comprised of 16 area agencies including cities, counties and water districts — recommended that each of its member agencies adopt a mutually agreed upon Groundwater Sustainability Plan by Jan. 8. … ”  Read more from the Stockton Record here: Water in the bank: Coalition of agencies develops ‘historic’ sustainable groundwater plan

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. “The first time I plowed ground with it, I was seven years old,” he says, recalling how he mishandled the plow and feared he had ruined the fields. He hadn’t; his father simply re-plowed them. “This little tractor did a lot,” he says, laughing. … ”  Read more from KVPR here:  Some farmers sell off fields ahead of groundwater law

EASTERN SIERRA

Ridgecrest: Water district board discusses GA budget:  “Discussion over groundwater authority finances once again dominated discussion at the Indian Wells Valley Water District board of directors meeting Monday night.  Board member Ron Kicinski provided fellow directors with an update on the IWV Groundwater Authority and its upcoming public workshop Thursday night at Kerr McGee Center. During the update, he noted that finances for the young agency continue to be a concern. … ”  Read more from the Taft Midway Driller here: Ridgecrest: Water district board discusses GA budget

Ridgecrest:  Proposed pump fee raise delayed:  “A proposed pump fee increase to help bolster the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s budget in 2020 fell somewhat flat at the Nov. 21 board meeting.  The recommended fee hike would have elevated the rate from a monthly $30 per-acre foot pumped to $75/acre-foot, according to IWVGA acting general manager Don Zdeba. It would turn the tables on the IWVGA ending 2020 fiscal year with $465,000 in the red to ending in the positive by $209,000. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Independent here:  Proposed pump fee raise delayed

Ridgecrest: Groundwater Sustainability Plan workshop set for December 12:  “The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority will hold a public workshop regarding its draft groundwater sustainability plan on Dec. 12, at 6 p.m. at the Kerr McGee Center, 100 W. California Ave.  A summary of the GSP will be presented before accepting public comments. All interested persons are invited to attend workshop.  The draft GSP is available in its entirety online at www.IWVGA.org/gsp-chapters. The Public Workshop will be video recorded and posted online at “www.IWVGA.org” after the workshop. … ”  Read more from the Ridgecrest Indpendent here: Groundwater Sustainability Plan workshop set for December 12

COACHELLA VALLEY

Golf course, CVWD cooperation key to keeping groundwater control local:  “Everyone knows the proverb about the man who falls off the Empire State Building and half way to the sidewalk below concludes, “so far, so good.” It’s the story we use to describe the most foolish of complacencies. The proverb is much too extreme to describe the Coachella Valley golf community’s relationship with water. Our complacency is not nearly as irrational, but it too is a complacency unsupported by fact or circumstance. … ”  Read more from The Desert Sun here: Golf course, CVWD cooperation key to keeping groundwater control local