California Groundwater Law Case Study

Improved Essays
California groundwater law has been diverse. Aside from groundwater laws, the concept of adjudicated basins has been a way to manage groundwater. In adjudicated basins, the court has jurisdiction, watermasters are appointed, local management districts exist, and it is the economics associated with groundwater pumping that determines the behavior of the groundwater users (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013). Adjudicated basins can form when people or cities go to court to address groundwater issues. In this process the court will appoint a watermaster or a group of people the responsibility of purchasing water and managing water …show more content…
Through this legislation groundwater management was adopted as “the planned and coordinated monitoring, operation, and administration of a groundwater basin, or portion of a basin, with the goal of long term groundwater resource sustainability” (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013). This act encouraged local water entities to work together in managing their groundwater resources and to provide groundwater management plans. In 2002 The Groundwater Management Act was modified in that if public agencies needed funds from the state to finance groundwater management projects, they needed to submit groundwater management plans. In 2011, the Assembly Bill 359 modified the Groundwater Management Act once more where this time it required local agencies to provide a copy of their groundwater management plan to the DWR (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    According to the source, “Watershed: A Separate Totality” in chapter one, it quotes William E. Warne, a former official in the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Interior, saying “The Bureau of Reclamation has identified effectively with local leaders who have sought the economic growth and development of their communities. . . Thus, a clientele of the most active local leaders has been developed for the Bureau in the rural areas of the west.” While this statement may be true, it still took a long time for the Western States to control the Bureau and how they divided up their precious water…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Section 401 of 43 CFR 3809 requires the following operating plans be included within the Plan: • Monitoring Plan (Appendix D); • Waste Rock Characterization Plan (Appendix E); • Interim Management Plan (Appendix F); • Quality Assurance Plan (Appendix G); • Invasive Species Management Plan (Appendix H); • Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (Appendix I); and • Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan (Appendix J). The RCE and operating plans will require additional detailed engineering and analyses to adequately address the proposed components for the Project. The final operating plans will be submitted to the BLM and ADNR when they are…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin is found in Mendocino County, in Northern California’s wine country on the Russian River Watershed (Figure 1). From the CASGEM Groundwater Basin Prioritization Process, the Ukiah Valley Groundwater basin was classified as medium priority (Resources 2014). Consequently, a GSA structure has been proposed in which it will consist of 6 members representing different stakeholders, and it will also contain a technical advisory committee. Following the formation of the GSA, the next step is to create a GSP, but before the GSP can be constructed a groundwater budget was developed to characterize the groundwater basin. The results from the groundwater budget will provide the foundation for the water management projects that follow and will provide an initial direction on how the GSA will advance in developing monitoring protocols and integrated water resources management strategies to achieve and maintain groundwater sustainability in the Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin in order to comply with SGMA expectations.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The California Coastal Act was enacted in the 1970s and it required that the 76 coastal cities and counties in the state must prepare and maintain a local coastal plan (LCP). The LCP incorporates the policies outlined in the Coastal Act and must be approved by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). A LCP is the city's specific, long-term coastal management plan, which includes a land use plan, zoning ordinances and other implementing actions (Fischer, 1999). Instead of having one big LCP, Los Angeles and many other coastal cities divided their jurisdictions up into multiple local coastal program areas. Los Angeles divided up the city into six different delineated areas, all of which have not developed their local coastal plans due to the…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is a government agency that was developed to manage Southern Nevada’s water needs. The SNWA has worked persistently to manage and diversify their water resources in order to be one step further along in the process of ensuring water in their regions for many years to come. The pipeline is about partnering with other states and regions to ensure communities are protected for guaranteeing future water sources when needed. SNWA would like to move forward with the pipeline guaranteeing that water would be allocated and monitored so that current farming, and rural and urban communities would be protected and safeguarded against water depletion.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over-pumping Aquifers in Central Valley Of all the states in our great nation , California uses more water from the ground than any other, and up to 80 percent of that water is used for agriculture. This mainly happens as a result of the depletion of the Shasta and Oroville Lakes; the federal government’s main source of water for the Central Valley. Since the drought began four years ago, the farms around the central valley have not been getting the provisions they’ve requested form the state, and as a result, have turned to pumping water out of the reservoirs in the ground. These underground reservoirs are called aquifers, and are among the most valuable resources in California.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Eutrophication Case Study

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Des Moines Water Works Lawsuit began on March 16, 2015 and is the Board of Trustees of Des Moines Water Works versus thirteen Iowa drainage districts with the claim that these thirteen districts are draining harmful water into the rivers of Iowa which breaks the Clean Water Act. This was found when the DMWW had to meet requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act but when a high amount of nitrate was found, it led to the certain districts that are being sued. This relates to personal property rights because in these counties, individual landowners can tile their land so the harmful runoff can drain into the pipes and into these districts’ draining system (Essman,…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin is located in the North Coast hydrologic region in Mendocino County, California. In 2009, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) launched the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) Program to monitor groundwater basins (groundwater table elevations) throughout California. DWR developed the CASGEM Groundwater Basin Prioritization process to classify groundwater basins and sub-basins as high, medium, low, or very low priority by using the following criteria: overlying population, projected growth of overlying population, the number public supply wells, the number of total wells, overlying irrigated acreage, reliance on groundwater as the primary source of water, and any impacts the groundwater basin has experienced from overdraft, subsidence, saline intrusion, and or other water quality degradation problems.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What would happen if California were to run out of water completely, just because the government did not do anything to stop it from happening? Farmers and regular citizens are drilling the ground in search of groundwater. Currently there are no laws restricting or monitoring the amount of groundwater we can use, and without these laws we could run out of water. In order to conserve and save water legislation needs create regulations to monitor and control both citizens and farmers use of groundwater. Due to a lack of regulations regarding groundwater farmers are drilling the ground and taking other people's water.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine this… muddy water, fish dying, and smelly lakes. Yup. These were the descriptions of the U.S’s waterways before 1972. We were in serious trouble. Some waterways became wasteland of smelly water and floating sludge.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    California Water Crisis How would you feel if you didn’t have enough water to use the restroom everyday, or if you couldn’t shower for over 6 months? Being that California has been in a gargantuan drought for the past 4 to 5 years, water has been in short supply in more places than not. Farmers claim that they should be allowed unlimited access to the state’s supply of groundwater, solely in view of money crops. Ironically, while farmers are making these claims there are people in these towns, traveling 3 to 6 hours to get a gallon of water to last their families a week. Many believe that there should be regulations and water control considering farmers are complaining that they grow crops to sell,…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Farmers are increasingly relying on groundwater to water their crops when surface water is limited. Groundwater is a strategic backup play; however, it is rapidly vanishing. After the groundwater is all used up what will be the next strategic plan? Several organizations and individuals are concerned that there is not reliable strategy placed for environmental issues that will protect California.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Study of California’s newest Drought Determining when drought develops is a function of drought impacts and water users. Drought is best sought as a period of dry weather, and extended shortage of water, especially a long one that is injurious to crops. This is a dangerous hydrologic condition that not only concerns water users in the affected area but also in some other locations some water users exempt but not all the way safe. Drought is a abnormal circumstance if it is insistent. Drought is a gradual emergency.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, in Victoria, The Water Act 1989 (Vic) silent in regards to rain water, therefore it may be necessary to include legislative provisions seeking to control rain water collection, use and distribution. Although, it could be possible to categorise rain as a ‘water resource’ and using the purpose of the Water Act claim its equitable and efficient use. However, further clarification and intervention is still needed from the legislature or judiciary in regards to this uncertainty. What rights could be attached to rain?…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A disputed rule initially approved by water regulators in 2013 will get its day in New Mexico Supreme Court on Sept. 28 when the court will hear oral arguments on the so-called Copper Rule. The New Mexico Environment Department says the regulations are among the highest of any copper-producing state in the west, and is balanced between health and economic prosperity. Environmental groups say the regulations violate the Water Quality Control Act and allow mining companies to pollute groundwater, and are asking the courts to require the state to set new regulations to prevent water…

    • 96 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays