Presentations 2016

Drawing the Line: Borders and Boundaries Governing Conjunctive Use

UC Davis

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Nature creates intricate boundaries that interconnect natural ecosystems- land to water, forests to rangelands, and groundwater to soil. When it comes to the management, allocation and regulation of these resources the lines become significantly blurred. In exploring the interface between natural boundaries and administrative borders to the case of groundwater law in California, this presentation aims to distil lessons that can be applied to the Nile Basin. Focusing on the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater my analysis is based on the overlap of administrative borders and with selected river basins under the Department of Water Resources (DWR) Bulletin 118. In particular, I highlight the administrative complexities that accompany the local primacy provisions of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the election of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies under section § 10723(a) of the Act. My aim in this presentation is to answer two questions: a) How are GSAs designated for an overlapping area where two or more local agencies (overlaying the same groundwater basin) elect to become GSAs? b) Given that the determination of water rights is outside the remit of GSA authority, and prior to reverting to state intervention (§ 10735.2(e), what management options does SGMA present for mitigating undesirable results from depletion of interconnected surface waters induced by pumping? The answers to these questions will form the basis for indicative measures that Nile Basin states may adopt in managing shared surface and groundwater under the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement 2010.