Assembly Bill 1413 seeks to quietly rewrite California’s water laws, raising alarm among local water agencies, business groups, lawmakers and many advocates of California’s agriculture industry. The Indian Wells Valley Water District in eastern Kern County has serious concerns about the proposal’s threats to groundwater rights, due process, transparency and scientific accountability. The bill would limit judicial oversight and fundamentally alter the role of groundwater sustainability plans in California, potentially treating them as a legally binding determination of water rights. The Indian Wells water district is undergoing an adjudication process to protect property rights, and officials like me worry that AB 1413 would prohibit courts from reviewing the science behind these plans, as well as potential errors.
–Written by David Saint-Amand, board president of the Indian Wells Valley Water District.

Other groundwater news:

• CalMatters (rewind): Opinion: How deep-pocketed groundwater users are stalling California’s sustainability plans
• KGET (Bakersfield, Calif.): Ridgecrest warns of significantly higher water rates for residents following court ruling on Indian Wells Valley
• KRCR (Redding, Calif.): Butte County leaders discuss groundwater sustainability, Feather River Corridor
• KERO/ABC23 (Bakersfield, Calif.): Kern Subbasin Groundwater Plan adopted, awaits state meeting
• Nature: Unprecedented large-scale aquifer recovery through human intervention