Thursday Top of the Scroll: Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures
As water managers throughout the San Joaquin Valley scramble to reign in groundwater pumping, they’re running into a serious roadblock: angry farmers. Across the valley, farmers have decried fees and other measures meant to reduce pumping, threatening not to pay, taking agencies to court and protesting groundwater rules. In some cases, it’s working. In the Kaweah subbasin in Kings and western Tulare counties, farmers forced a groundwater agency to cut pumping fees by half. In the Chowchilla subbasin farmers voted down groundwater fees and are pursuing creation of their own groundwater agency. … The rebellion is a reaction to the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which aims to bring critically overdrafted water subbasins into balance by 2040.
Related articles:
- Los Angeles Times: Groundwater depletion is accelerating in the Central Valley
- CBS – Sacramento: California program pays farmers to fallow fields to preserve water amid drought
- DWR: California water agencies collaborate on groundwater digital platform to help address dry wells and water supply shortages
- EDF’s Growing Returns blog: Exciting new partnerships help Groundwater Accounting Platform expand to new regions