While most Californians enjoy the convenience of having water to drink, cook and clean, many communities, including the small underrepresented communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley, face water scarcity challenges. In Fairmead, CA, an unincorporated community 12 miles north of Madera, CA, there are approximately 1,400 residents, with 200 residents connected to the community well and the remaining residents on domestic private wells. Though demographics have shifted, Fairmead continues to be a predominantly community of color. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Fairmead was primarily African American. Today, the community is approximately 70% Hispanic and 7% African American.
The community of Fairmead was hard hit by the last statewide drought which lasted between 2012 and 2016. To this day, Fairmead continues to experience the impacts of declining groundwater levels. Victoria “Vickie” Ortiz and her family experienced first-hand the water challenges exacerbated by the most recent drought. In the summer of 2016, Vickie’s well went dry for over a year and a half. Unfortunately, this did not come as a surprise, as many of her neighbors with shallow wells had also gone dry. A growing demand of water for crop irrigation, coupled with the drought, led to groundwater overdraft.
Vicky Espinoza is a Ph.D. Candidate advised by Dr. Joshua Viers in the Environmental Systems Graduate Group at the University of California Merced. As a Latina in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), she has been actively involved in making science and mathematics accessible to underrepresented, Spanish-speaking communities throughout her educational career.
Q: Can you share a brief introduction of your research and CaliWaterAg?
A: Many studies have projected that more than 10% of agricultural land will need to go out of production to address groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley. Taking land out of production is difficult and something that cannot be done randomly since there are impacts to people’s livelihood and the economy. My doctoral work addresses how and where this is going to happen in a way that minimizes impacts to already vulnerable communities and farmers in the Valley.
Critically overdrafted groundwater basins submitted their Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) in January 2020, and high and medium priority subbasins will be submitting their GSPs in 2022. At the Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, a panel provided an update on Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation, including issues being litigated in first impression lawsuits across the state. Best practices for groundwater allocation and trading, and incorporation of environmental justice concerns into GSPs. How agencies address CEQA compliance for GSA Project and Management Actions were also discussed.
The panelists:
Eric Averett, general manager of Roseville-Rio Bravo Water Storage District: Since 1991, Eric has been actively involved in evaluating and resolving water supply and quality challenges facing Kern County. Eric Averett serves as president of the Kern River Watershed Coalition. He sits on the board of directors for the Water Association of Kern County and the Association of California Water Agencies.
Camille Pannu, a visiting clinical law professor at the Community and Economic Development Clinic at UC Irvine School of Law: Prior to joining UC Irvine, she served as the inaugural director for the Water Justice Clinic at UC Davis School of Law, the first clinic of its kind in the country. Her practice uses administrative advocacy, strategic research, and transactional legal tools to address the impact of racial and economic inequality on access to clean, safe drinking water in California’s low-income communities.
Tom Lippe, public interest environmental law attorney: He has been actively involved since 1987 in cases dealing with land use, CEQA, NEPA, surface water, groundwater, coastal protection, and endangered species. Mr. Lippe’s practice has included many cases involving the effects of land-use changes on groundwater resources and the effects of groundwater consumption on streamflow and endangered salmonids. Mr. Lippe is currently litigating two cases challenging groundwater sustainability plans adopted under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act for the Eastern San Joaquin and Delta-Mendota groundwater basins.
The panel was moderated by Natalie Stork, chief of the Groundwater Management Program at the State Water Resources Control Board, which is responsible for the board’s implementation of SGMA.
Over-pumping of groundwater has caused domestic wells to go dry in the San Joaquin Valley. Yet many of the first round of plans prepared to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) do not yet propose ways to address this problem. We explored groundwater planning with three members of the environmental justice community—Angela Islas of Self-Help Enterprises, Justine Massey of the Community Water Center, and Amanda Monaco of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
Guest commentary from Soua Lee, Program Manager of the Kings Basin Water Authority, on behalf of the IRWM Roundtable of Regions, posted at Maven’s Notebook:
How does a region integrate Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a program mandated by State legislation, with Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM), a voluntary collaborative effort, to implement regional water management solutions?
A question often asked, but with no definitive answer depending on who you ask. This article discusses how IRWM and SGMA share a similar approach that involves comprehensive management on a regional scale and provides examples of where the two programs are working together successfully.
WEBINAR: Successful collaboration between IRWM and SGMA
This webinar discusses the benefits of successful collaboration between groundwater sustainability agencies implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) planning efforts.
The speakers were:
David Orth, Principal, New Current Water and Land
Rob Swartz, Manager of Tech Services, Regional Water Authority and American River IRWM
Angela Islas, Community Development Specialist, Self-Help Enterprises
The panel was moderated by Lance Eckhart, General Manager of the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency.
Through the NGO Groundwater Collaborative, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Tribes, and California residents share information and resources to help each other participate in the state’s groundwater management programs. We spoke with Jennifer Clary, California Director for Clean Water Action California, and Emily Finnegan, Project Manager for Local Government Commission’s water programs, about the collaborative and what’s coming up for the group.
Are you interested in learning more about California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)? If yes, this channel is for you!
As a doctoral candidate, Vicky Espinoza’s work involves keeping farmers and community members in the San Joaquin Valley informed and engaged with SGMA. If you are a farmer or community member of California’s San Joaquin Valley and would like to become involved in my doctoral research you can email her at caliwaterag@gmail.com
Thank you!
¿Está interesado en aprender más sobre la Ley de Manejo Sustentable de Aguas Subterráneas (SGMA) de California? Si es así, ¡este canal es para ti!
Como candidata a doctorado, el trabajo de Vicky Espinoza implica mantener informados e involucrados a los agricultores y miembros de la comunidad en el Valle de San Joaquín con SGMA. Si usted es un agricultor o miembro de la comunidad del Valle de San Joaquín de California y le gustaría participar en mi investigación doctoral, puede enviarle un correo electrónico a caliwaterag@gmail.com
¡Gracias!
From the Department of Water Resources Sustainable Groundwater Management Office:
DWR’s Written Translation Service is available to help groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs), or other groups assisting in local SGMA implementation efforts, communicate groundwater management activities with their non-English speaking constituents.
GSAs, or other groups, can submit written notices, letters, forms, presentations, fact sheets, pamphlets, and other materials to DWR for translation into one or more of the following languages: Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Laotian, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
A couple updates have been made to the Service:
The word limit has increased from 1,500 words to 5,000 words per groundwater basin/subbasin.
Applicants can now submit Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint files that include formatting. Please note that content spacing and formatting may be affected through the translation process and should be checked prior to finalization by the applicant.
“Q: How did you get involved with sustainable groundwater management issues?
A: I have been a volunteer activist in the county for 20 years. As irrigated agriculture came in and started planting in the region it started to become obvious that we needed to pay attention to how much groundwater there was. In 2005, the County published a study they’d done of the groundwater aquifer and they published a second one in 2009 or 2010, and then a third one. As irrigated agriculture grew and we faced this drought, residents’ wells started to go dry. … ”
While most Californians enjoy the convenience of having water to drink, cook and clean, many communities, including the small underrepresented communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley, face water scarcity challenges. In Fairmead, CA, an unincorporated community 12 miles north of Madera, CA, there are approximately 1,400 residents, with 200 residents connected to the community well and the remaining residents on domestic private wells. Though demographics have shifted, Fairmead continues to be a predominantly community of color. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Fairmead was primarily African American. Today, the community is approximately 70% Hispanic and 7% African American.
