Ferocious overpumping that has caused huge swaths of the San Joaquin Valley to sink, damaging key water arteries including the Friant-Kern Canal and California Aqueduct must stop, according to the Department of Water Resources (DWR). It’s one of the main reasons the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was passed in 2014. After 11 years, though, not much has slowed the sinking, other than a few good, wet years, prompting the state to issue proposed subsidence guidelines that leave no doubt how serious DWR is about the issue.

Other groundwater news:

• The Modesto Focus (Calif.): Modesto Irrigation District director accused of water theft, board will investigate​