SGMA
California Water Law Symposium is this Saturday in San Francisco
This student-organized event will focus on “Diversifying Solutions to Water Governance in California”
If you’re interested in California water, the 20th Annual California Water Law Symposium is a great way to spend this Saturday! The symposium is a collaborative student-run event that consistently brings together leading minds in water law and policy to discuss Californiaās critical water issues.Ā Students from 7 northern California law schoolsāled by a stellar …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy There is (Still) a Carrot Boycott in Cuyama Valley
Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms are technically no longer plaintiffs in the lawsuit they launched. But their water war wages on.
Donāt expect to see carrots on Thanksgiving menus in the Cuyama Valley, where residents and small farmers have been boycotting Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms over their outsized water use. Theyāre still not welcome at the table.Ā Back in September, I wrote about the carrot boycott and the hardball tactics by those big growers that …
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CONTINUE READINGRecharge net metering (ReNeM) provides win-win-win for groundwater agency, landowners, & sustainable groundwater management
Nature Water publication showcases the economics of a novel groundwater recharge incentive structure
By Molly Bruce, Luke Sherman, Ellen Bruno, Andrew T. Fisher, & Michael Kiparsky An insidious issue has been growing along the Central Coast and throughout the state of California for decades: groundwater overdraft. In response to this growing threat and 2014 legislation designed to put an end to chronic overdraft, many basins have identified managed …
CONTINUE READINGOne More Key Groundwater Bill Just Became Law
Gov. Newsom signs AB 779, which addresses inequities in Californiaās complicated groundwater adjudication process.
Earlier this week the San Francisco Chronicle declared that Californiaās legislative session would close with just a single bill addressing injustices in the stateās water rights system. Now you can add one more to the list. Gov. Newsom signed Assembly Bill 779 into law this week. Itās an important step to reforming the stateās murkyāoften …
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CONTINUE READINGAn Important Groundwater Bill Lands on the Governorās Desk
Guest Contributors Gabi Rosenfeld, Owen McAleer, and Adrianne Davies say AB 779, a bill they worked on with State Assemblymember Lori Wilson, will address inequities in groundwater adjudications.
Earlier this month, Californiaās Legislature passed a slate of bills that cover a range of environmental and climate issues. Among those was Assemblymember Lori Wilsonās AB 779, a bill we helped create to improve the groundwater adjudication process for all water users. Adjudications legally determine groundwater rights but can take years and cost millions of …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy is there a Carrot Boycott in Cuyama Valley?
Small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott against Bolthouse and Grimmway Farms. Hereās what it says about California’s effort to manage groundwater.
When California lawmakers enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, it was an effort to tame the wild, wild west of water. Nearly a decade later, thereās been some progress creating local sustainability plans, but Big Ag corporations are still hogging water and bullying smaller groundwater users. Look no further than the fight heating …
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CONTINUE READINGWhen does a groundwater recharge project NOT need a water right?
by Kate Fritz and Nell Green Nylen
Groundwater recharge projects already play an important role in California. That role is about to expand rapidly, as local groundwater managers begin to take more concrete actions to meet their responsibilities under Californiaās landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). As we mentioned in our last post, an important part of developing a successful recharge project …
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CONTINUE READINGWhen are markets appropriate tools for sustainably managing groundwater?
New report from Berkeley Lawās CLEE outlines critical considerations for local groundwater markets under SGMA
Locals implementing California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) are rapidly turning from questions about whoĀ will manage groundwater and how they should approachĀ institutional designĀ to next-level questions: What does sustainability mean for a particular basin, and how will local managers achieve it? One of many potential management tools is a local groundwater market. SGMA opens the door …
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