Groundwater plan called "management lite"
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a trio of bills designed to fix California’s lax groundwater management system. The groundwater package will reform what is described by UC Davis environmental law professor Richard Frank as the “Wild Wild West,” where landowners with groundwater access pump as much as they please with no monitoring or limitations.
Frank says it’s a good start:
But Frank sees some major flaws in the new plan, calling it "management lite":
The bills direct local water agencies to come up with sustainable groundwater plans, and if they fail to do so, the State Water Resources Control Board can step in. Frank worries the process will take too long to ease the pain of the current drought:
Silver lining? Frank’s law students will have plenty of work:
Related:
California groundwater: Court case could speed up regulation (KQED)