Category Archives: Groundwater Management

SGMA Gone Awry in Indian Wells Valley

Leave a reply

The California Supreme Court can protect incentives for responsible groundwater management by agreeing to review an appellate court decision (Mojave Pistachios v. Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Agency) challenging Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan (“GSP”).  The dispute is over whether the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) allows Indian Wells Valley to eviscerate a landowner’s (Mojave Pistachios LLC) groundwater rights without due process and impose unreasonable “fees” for a speculative GSP.  The future of reasonable groundwater management hangs in the balance. 

Continue reading →

Groundwater Management under SGMA—A Role for Markets Part 1

The June 30, 2017 deadline for medium and high-priority groundwater basins to create Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (“GSAs”) under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) is behind us, and the newly-formed regulatory agencies must now figure out how they will meet their purpose of stopping overdraft and bringing groundwater to sustainable levels. SGMA implementation can easily build on the experiences of the west.

Continue reading →

Oil Drilling and Water Supply in California: Missteps and the Challenges that Lie Ahead

Despite the fact that oil has long been nicknamed “black gold,” oil has been anything but gold as of late. Supply gluts in the United States and fighting among the OPEC countries caused a dramatic decline in crude oil prices over the last 6 months or so. As the chart below shows, crude oil prices have dropped from about $82 per barrel at the beginning of November to approximately $50 a barrel today. While US consumers enjoy lower prices at the pump, the significant drop in oil prices is causing major challenges in the industry. Continue reading →

New Local Groundwater Rules try to get out in Front of California’s Groundwater Legislation

We have all heard of the Gold Rush in the State of California. In recent years, however, a new kind of “gold rush” has taken over the state – the rush for new water supplies. As the drought continues into its 4th year unabated, farmers are scrambling to drill new and deeper wells into the ground. However, these farmers face serious new challenges in their quest to secure new water supplies. Continue reading →