From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Groundwater levels falling at alarming rate while lawmakers decide what to do

Coalition response…San Joaquin Valley farmers and water officials recognized the amount of water being pumped from aquifers in the early 1900s as land subsidence was occurring. One of the benefits of the federal and State water projects was to provide a surface supply of water that would curtail the need to pump groundwater at unsustainable levels. Today’s surface supply has been negatively impacted by Environmental Species Act regulations and drought conditions. Consequently, farmers have been forced to increase pumping from the aquifer to maintain farm production and associated jobs and local economic benefits.

One avenue of reducing the reliance on groundwater would be to restore the water lost due to unproven regulations.