California heads for regulation of groundwater | Food and Environment Reporting Network

“California could soon become the last state in the West to regulate water pulled from beneath the earth,” says the Sacramento Bee. The Legislature passed a three-bill package on Friday that Gov Jerry Brown is expected to sign. It would require local water managers in certain parts of the state to draft plans within a few years to prevent extraction of too much water from the ground. The state could step in if the local plans are insufficient or not enforced.

With the state in a three-year drought, farmers and cities are relying more heavily on wells. Up to 65 percent of the water supply may come from wells this year, compared to the usual 40 percent, according to the California Water Foundation. Scientists say aquifers are being drained at an unsustainable rate. Groundwater historically has been regarded as a property right in California. Legislators from the Central Valley voted en bloc against the bill.

Along with the groundwater bill, legislators proposed a $7.5 billion water bond package that would pay for projects to store surface water, environmental stewardship and include $900 million for groundwater.