Groundwater
From: Ed Joyce, Capital Public Radio
A Sacramento Superior
Court judge issued a ruling Tuesday requiring regulation of groundwater pumping
to protect a river in Siskiyou County.
Attorneys on both
sides say it's the first time a California court has ruled the "public
trust doctrine" applies to groundwater. The doctrine says the State of
California holds all waterways for the benefit of the people.
The lawsuit claimed
groundwater pumping in the Scott River
Basin is partly
responsible for decreased river flows - limiting the public's use of the river
and harming fish habitat.
Drought
From: Scott Smith, Insurance Journal
Farmers in pockets of
California hardest hit by the drought could begin to see their wells run dry a
year from now if rain and snow remain scarce in the agriculturally rich state,
according to a study released Tuesday.
Richard Howitt, a
University of California, Davis professor emeritus of agriculture and resource
economics, urged farmers to take the lead in managing groundwater to irrigate
crops and sustain California's $44.7 billion farming industry.
From: Desiree Salas, Latinos Post
A recent University
of California study showed that the current drought ravaging California this
year is causing the "greatest absolute reduction in water availability for
California agriculture ever seen," Mashable
reported.
"The California
drought will deprive the state's thirsty farmers of 6.6 million acre-feet of
surface water, which works out to a whopping 2.2 trillion gallons - enough to
fill 60 million average-sized swimming pools," the site said. "Farmers
are making up for some of this lost water by pumping as much groundwater as
they can tap into, which will diminish the state's ability to withstand future
droughts."
Recycle Water
From: Desiree Salas, Latinos Post
A recent University
of California study showed that the current drought ravaging California this
year is causing the "greatest absolute reduction in water availability for
California agriculture ever seen," Mashable
reported.
"The California
drought will deprive the state's thirsty farmers of 6.6 million acre-feet of
surface water, which works out to a whopping 2.2 trillion gallons - enough to
fill 60 million average-sized swimming pools," the site said.
"Farmers are making up for some of this lost water by pumping as much
groundwater as they can tap into, which will diminish the state's ability to
withstand future droughts."
Water Use
From: Staff, Sacramento Bee
Use a hose, go to
jail.
California hasn't
quite come to threatening unrepentant water wasters with time in the big house.
But emergency rules adopted by the State Water
Resources Control Board Tuesday do take the state a lot closer to
criminalizing the squandering of a precious resource.
It's an unpleasant
but necessary measure. As a study by UC Davis makes
clear, the ongoing drought hurts the state's economy. It's a pain that trickles
down to all of us, even those already doing their part to cut back.
But it is frustrating
that agriculture has been let off the hook.
From: Katharine Mieszkowski, Fresno Bee
After largely
ignoring a conservation law passed during the last drought, some of
California's largest agricultural water districts are facing a lawsuit that
would force them to measure how much water farmers use.
The 2009 law was
designed to push the state's biggest water users to conserve by closely
monitoring their use. Then, the state's agricultural water districts are supposed
to charge the farmers, at least in part, based on that use.
But the state doesn't
actually know how many agricultural water districts are meeting the new
requirements or even inching toward doing so because more than 20 of them have
failed to turn in what's called a water management plan. The plans were due
more than 18 months ago.
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