A coalition of Arizonans in the western part of the state are banding together to protect their shrinking groundwater basin by establishing a zone to restrict pumping. Residents are collecting signatures to establish a groundwater protection zone around the McMullen Valley aquifer. A New York City based-hedge fund Water Asset Management, LLC, supported legislation earlier this year which would have allowed it to pump some of that water out and sell it to cities in the metro Phoenix area. The bill died, but it spurred locals to take action. … Backers of the protection effort want to put the question of establishing an active management area (AMA) on local ballots next March.

Other groundwater news:

• Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): Western Arizona residents want to take groundwater regulation into their own hands
• Engineering News-Record: $403M pipeline pushes Mojave groundwater bank into construction
• SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Some Kings County farmers can expect state groundwater invoices by end of year, at the latest
• CapRadio (Sacramento, Calif.): What happened after Sacramento sued over “forever chemicals” found in groundwater
• The San Fernando Valley Sun (Calif.): Two new groundwater treatment facilities commissioned in North Hollywood