California is at a groundwater management crossroads as legal loopholes threaten to undo the state’s progress toward responsible groundwater sustainability. At the core of this legal conflict are two legal processes. The first is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the landmark law passed in 2014 to bring order to overdrafting of basins and ensure long-term sustainability of the state’s groundwater resources. The second is groundwater adjudications, a legal tool to determine water rights of who can pump water and how much they can use. … Assembly Bill 1413 is sensible, straightforward legislation that would strengthen the state’s efforts to manage this precious resource. AB 1413 is intended to protect the right to challenging a sustainability plan, but at the same time, preserve the integrity of the groundwater law’s process and provide clarity to judges in adjudications.
–Written by Scott Hayman, chair of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority.