1 Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res. Groundwater Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop August 10, 2015 Andy...
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Transcript of 1 Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res. Groundwater Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop August 10, 2015 Andy...
1Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res.
Groundwater
Sierra Water Workgroup WorkshopAugust 10, 2015
Andy SawyerState Water Resources Control Board
Rob SawyerRemy Moose Manley LLP
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The Nature of California’s Aquifers
Valley Fill Aquifers – Most of California’s Aquifers• Loose or Semi-consolidated Sediments• Filling Valleys between Mountains or Hills• Bounded by Less Permeable Rock
Valley Fill Sediments
Underlying Bedrock
Groundwater(Water-saturated Sediments)
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High Groundwater LevelsGroundwater Maintains Stream Flow
“Gaining Stream”
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
Pumping Lowers Groundwater LevelsStream Loses Flow to Groundwater
“Losing Stream”
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
Pumping Lowers Groundwater LevelsStream Loses Flow to Groundwater
Groundwater Levels Below Stream Channel
“Losing Stream”
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
Pumping Lowers Groundwater LevelsStream Loses Flow to Groundwater
Seepage to Groundwater Exceeds Stream FlowDry Stream Channel (Intermittently or Year-round)
Dry Stream
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
Supply
About 15 MAF pumped per year
A third of California’s total supply in average year, greater during drought
80% of Californians rely on groundwater
CA pumps more groundwater in a single year than the rest of the nation combined
Net Stream Gain or Loss by Central Valley RegionHistorical and Status Quo Future Conditions
Change in Central Valley Groundwater Storage
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Photos: USGS
Seawater Intrusion
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
Image: https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/gmiller/research.ht
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Groundwater Rights
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Source: USGS
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English Common Law—Absolute Ownership
“Each owner has an equal and complete right to the use of his land, and to the water which is in it. . . . [Groundwater] influences “are so secret, changeable and uncontroulable [sic], we cannot subject them to the regulations of law, nor build upon them a system of rules, as has been done with streams upon the surface.” (Roath v. Driscoll (1850) 20 Conn. 532, 540 [emphasis in original].) “The rule is well established that the principles of law which govern the right to waters flowing upon the surface of the earth are inapplicable to waters which are beneath its surface and percolate through the soil. The water which is held by the soil is a portion of the soil itself, and belongs to the owner of the land.” (Gould v. Eaton (1896) 111 Cal. 639, 644.)
Katz v. Walkinshaw (1903) 141 Cal. 116
Recognizing common law overlying and appropriative water rights
18Justice Lucien Shaw.Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association
Hudson v. Dailey (1909) 156 Cal. 617, 627
Adopting the “common source” doctrine
19Justice Lucien Shaw.Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association
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21Images: NASA
Paso Robles Groundwater Conflict
Change in Paso Robles Groundwater Levels
1997 - 2013
Source: Paso Robles Groundwater Management Plan
USGS, 2013
Poland, 1977
CWF, 2014
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Source: KCRA
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Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
Requires local basin plans for high- and medium- priority basins
Provides local management tools
Allows state review and intervention
Sets goals and deadlines
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Bulletin 118 Groundwater Basins
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High- and Medium- Priority Basins
Establishing Groundwater Sustainability Agencies
Local agency, or combination of agencies with coordination agreement
Local agency election: Listed agencies with groundwater
management powers get first dibs, but can elect not to.
Counties are presumptively the agencies for “white spot” areas not within the area of another local agency that elects to manage, but the county may opt out
CEQA applies to local agency formation
New Local Management Tools Aligns local groundwater agencies
with basin boundaries Authorizes agencies to:
Register wells Measure extractions Require reports Manage extractions Assess Fees
Local plans are exempt from CEQA
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Monetization
• Authorizes agencies to:
• Regulate and limit pumping allocations
• Authorize leasing of pumping rights
• Authorize sales of pumping rights
• (Provided leases and sales are consistent with the sustainability plan.)
• Water Code § 10726.4(a)(3)
Key dates for local agencies
What is sustainable groundwater management?
Managing groundwater during the 50-year planning horizon without causing “significant and unreasonable”:•Chronic lowering of groundwater levels•Reductions in storage•Seawater intrusion•Degradation of groundwater quality•Land subsidence•Surface water depletions
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The State Role
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State Intervention
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Follow-up Legislation?o S.B. 13; A.B.
617o S.B. 20; S.B.
83o Adjudication
Reform S.B. 220; A.B. 1390
o Underground Storage A.B. 647
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What About Areas Not Subject to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act?
40Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res.
Groundwater
Sierra Water Workgroup WorkshopAugust 10, 2015
Andy SawyerState Water Resources Control Board
Rob SawyerRemy Moose Manley LLP
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Questions?
Pumped Groundwater BasinInitial Level of Use
Ground Surface
Recharge/Leakage from River
River
Domestic Wells
High Capacity Wells
Groundwater Level
Pumped Groundwater BasinIncreased Level of Use
Ground Surface
Increased Leakage
from River
River
Stranded Domestic Wells
Groundwater Level
New High Capacity Wells
Pumped Groundwater BasinIncreased Level of Use
Ground Surface
Increased Leakage
from River
River
New Domestic WellsMust be Deeper
Groundwater Level
Ground SurfaceRiver
Even More Leakage
from River
Pumped Groundwater BasinEven More Use
More New Wells
Groundwater Level
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Does the Public Trust Apply to Groundwater?
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Source: UCD
Scott River
Photo: Felice Pace
ELF v. State Water Board
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In the Matter of the Water Use Permit Applications, Petitions for Interim Instream Flow Standard Amendments, and Petitions for Water
Reservations for the Waiāhole Ditch Combined Contested Case Hearing (2000) 94 Hawai’i 97 [9 P.3d 409].
50Waiāhole StreamPhoto: Hawai’I Commission on Water Resource Management
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Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group v. City of San Jose (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 689, 709 [The public trust doctrine has no application to groundwater where there is no threat to surface waterways.]
Metcalf Energy Center. Photo: Calpine
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National Audubon Society v. Superior Court (1983) 33 Cal.3d 419
Justice Allen E. Broussard. Photo: California Supreme Court Historical Society
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A variant of the public trust doctrine applies to fish in non-navigable streams (California Trout, Inc. v. State Water Resources Control Board (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 585)
Fishing in lower Rush Creek (1948) Photo: Elden Vestel