- Author: Lauren Adams
Under recently enacted legislation, local agencies in California are required for the first time to manage groundwater pumping and recharge sustainably.
The law empowers local groundwater agencies to manage and use groundwater “without causing undesirable results,” leaving it up to them to determine how to best achieve this goal. Within the next six to eight years, agencies in groundwater basins subject to critical overdraft must adopt plans that put these areas on a path to sustainability by 2040. A major factor complicating such long-term water planning is climate change. Failing to account for a changing climate will put agencies -- and the people whom they serve -- at risk of “undesirable results,” even if they are otherwise well prepared. The solution: a long-term approach to groundwater management will result in more resilient groundwater basins and a more secure water system for California. |
To read more about climate change, groundwater security, and the new package of groundwater legislation, read the full post, “Groundwater security, for the long term” on the California Water Blog at http://californiawaterblog.