Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Water Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on November 1, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on water resilience. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Jerry Meral
The $8.9 billion bond measure on the November ballot would solve groundwater contamination in disadvantaged communities, restore wetlands, protect the Salton Sea and much more, says the measure’s author, Jerry Meral.
State law does not currently allow surface water to be used for groundwater recharge if the goal is managing pollution, reversing subsidence or controlling salinity. That could be a problem as local agencies begin trying to make their groundwater use more sustainable.
The state formed a working group, with the blessing of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to find ways to reuse wastewater from natural gas fracking wells. But concerned citizens say the process needs more daylight.
Michael Kiparsky Director, Wheeler Water Institute, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, University of California, Berkeley
Nell Green Nylen Senior Research Fellow, Wheeler Water Institute
California’s five-year drought highlighted the struggles faced by small water systems. Legal and policy solutions are in the works, but they must remain adaptable to meet the needs of small communities.
Patrick Koepele Executive Director, Tuolumne River Trust
Rather than fighting over flow allocation in the San Joaquin River, water users should collaborate on a groundwater banking system. That could let river restoration proceed while ensuring enough water for all concerned, says Patrick Koepele of the Tuolumne River Trust.
Wastewater treatment has always been hidden away, as nobody wanted to be near it. Now utility managers are inviting the community into their world by building parks, hiking trails and attractive spaces for special events.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
State legislators have until the end of the month to pass the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. There is an urgent need to provide clean drinking water to the 1 million Californians who lack access to such supplies, says Kirsten James of Ceres.
In a part of Los Angeles County, a community exchange pool has been established that allows entities to store and purchase groundwater. It’s an adaptive strategy that could be more common as California works to implement its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
The state’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act takes a big step in protecting ecosystems that depend on groundwater, but now the hard work of incorporating that mandate into sustainability plans begins.
The state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is likely to result in fallowing thousands of acres of farmland. Local governments are just waking up to the big opportunities, and risks, in how that land gets reused.
Sean Bothwell Policy Director, California Coastkeeper Alliance
The Golden State may face a future with more extreme weather, which will further stress water resources, but California is well on its way to dealing with this new reality, writes Sean Bothwell of California Coastkeeper Alliance.
Drilling new water wells is strictly regulated in New Mexico, causing hardship for an oil industry that needs water for fracking. So groundwater is being piped across the state line from Texas, prompting worry over the shared aquifer.
Four groundwater basins in Napa and Sonoma counties may be in worse shape than previously thought. The state of California recently signaled they should be subject to new groundwater sustainability rules.
California is close to awarding $2.7 billion to new water storage projects. Jay Lund of U.C. Davis and Rachel Zwillinger of Defenders of Wildlife explain the process and how it will impact the state.
The pilot program is kicking off in Ventura County, but experts say that it may be replicated in other parts of the state as California works to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and curb overpumping of aquifers.
Alvar Escriva-Bou Research Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
Recent studies have calculated how much water is available for recharge, but the hurdle now is how to get it underground, writes researcher Alvar Escriva-Bou of the PPIC Water Policy Center.
A study by researchers from Stanford University found that subsidence is not the only consequence of overpumping of groundwater – deadly water quality problems could also result.
Sean Hood Water Lawyer Specializing in Water Adjudications and Other Complex Water Rights Litigation
As California works to implement its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, water rights attorney Sean Hood explains why it’s important to engage actively in the process.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
Driscoll’s Berries and its farmers in Ventura County are working to save water and tackle sustainable management of the local groundwater, writes Kirsten James of Ceres.
Just how long interim funding will play a central role in responding to water issues depends on implementing long-term solutions to contamination and groundwater depletion.
Volcanically active Mammoth Mountain in California has been home to a productive geothermal energy operation for decades. Now, expansion plans have the local water agency concerned about the future of its groundwater.
Just 5 percent of California farmers use cover cropping, but that’s likely to increase as researchers work to quantify the amount of water that can be saved by the practice and its benefit for river ecosystems.
The lush farming region has faced seawater intrusion from Monterey Bay for decades. But it has become an emergency due to unregulated well drilling, explains Gary Petersen, general manager of the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
A fight over groundwater between New Mexico and Texas is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, but the battle has intensified as New Mexico contemplates allowing a copper mine to pump more than 1 billion gallons of groundwater annually.
California’s groundwater agencies need to create sustainability plans, says Michael Kiparsky of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, noting that, unless those plans also take surface water into account, they might not work.
Sarge Green Water Management Specialist with the California Water Institute, California State University
Ellen Hanak Director, PPIC Water Policy Center
California needs to get to the next level in using groundwater recharge to help bring over-drafted San Joaquin Valley aquifers into sustainability, write Ellen Hanak of the PPIC Water Policy Center and Sarge Green of the California Water Institute.
Near Bakersfield, the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District plans to set up procedures for land retirement and water trading with the goal of putting property owners in the driver’s seat on groundwater management.
A huge aquifer in the heart of Idaho’s most important farming region had been overdrafted. We talk to Brian Patton from the Idaho Water Resource Board about how state tax revenues are building recharge facilities to restore the aquifer.
Much of L.A.’s water comes from hundreds of miles away. A new report from UCLA is challenging the city to think bigger about its plans to source more water locally in coming decades.
California has granted more than $34 million to desalination projects, and much of that money is going toward brackish water projects. That approach isn’t cheap or without environmental concerns, says Richard Mills of the Department of Water Resources.
A new report examines groundwater management innovations in six states to help inform similar efforts in California. Report coauthor Christina Babbitt of Environmental Defense Fund explains the key findings.
In the latest Deeply Talks, we talk with experts about the increasing importance of groundwater in California and the role of on-farm groundwater recharge.
As Washington tries to balance development in rural areas with the needs of rivers, fish and water users, its lessons may be helpful for other Western states.
An initial review by the California Water Commission slashed the ‘public benefits’ claimed by project applicants, prompting outrage in some quarters. Others say the process is working exactly as voters intended.
Erik Porse Research Engineer in the Office of Water Programs, CSU-Sacramento
Lessons water managers have learned developing local supplies for Los Angeles could help influence the future of urban water management throughout the West, writes research engineer Erik Porse.
In 2014 Californians approved Proposition 1. Ellen Hanak at the Public Policy Institute of California breaks down how much of that $7.5 billion has been appropriated so far and what that means for future water spending.
Here’s a look back at some of the key moments in 2017 as well as Water Deeply’s most read stories and the top reads from around the media picked by experts.
Tricia Gerrodette Member of the Sustainable Water Workgroup
Sandy Bahr Member of the Sustainable Water Workgroup
Gary Beverly Member of the Sustainable Water Workgroup
As Arizona works toward new water laws, more should be done to bring transparency to the policy process and prioritize environmental flows, say members of the Sustainable Water Workgroup.
On-farm groundwater recharge could greatly help decrease aquifer overdraft, but recent efforts show that some significant obstacles will need to be overcome.
After the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, the Ninth Circuit will decide a Southern California tribe’s share of Coachella Valley Aquifer – a decision that’s being watched closely by tribes across the West.
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