Post by thywar on Aug 10, 2014 19:28:55 GMT -7
The Los Angeles Times reports that the state may try to capitalize on the current drought by taking the unprecedented step of regulating groundwater use. Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento), one of the creators of the legislation, said of its new chances for passage: "This falls under the category of: Never let a crisis go to waste."
UC Davis reported that California’s drought cost the state $2.2 billion, and that was less than it could have been because of the state’s increased reliance on groundwater. That extra water covered as much as 75% of the water that had been lost.
However, because the drought has precipitated the increased withdrawal of water from underground basins, primarily in the San Joaquin Valley, the rate at which it is being drawn means more is taken than can be replaced.
Lester Snow, director of the nonprofit group California Water Foundation and a former state secretary for natural resources, explained, "What we're doing with groundwater is an equivalent to deficit spending. Something bad is going to happen [in the long run.]"
The legislation proposed flies in the face of the traditional perspective of groundwater belonging to the property owner. However, there have already been changes to the prevailing attitude; some water districts are supervising their underground sources; some others were forced to do so by court proceedings. Yet some important basins are unregulated.
The proposed legislation, reflected in two separate but identical bills, would force local agencies to originate a scheme to address the supervision of their groundwater by 2020. State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who wrote one of the bills, said, "We do recognize that local management is by far preferable."
www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/08/10/CA-Planning-to-Regulate-Groundwater