In the first indication of how strict state officials will be with new groundwater sustainability agencies, the Department of Water Resources has refused to accept groundwater plans covering the Madera subbasin because one of those agencies did not sign a coordination agreement. The DWR has not posted the submitted groundwater...
What Is SGMA? Here Are the Basics.
By Lois Henry SJV.org The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014 and enacted in 2015. It aims to stop groundwater overpumping in critically overdrafted basins by 2040 and bring them into “sustainability.” Sustainability is defined as avoiding undesirable results: 1. Chronic lowering of groundwater. 2. Reduction of groundwater storage....
Groundwater Plan Could Give Corcoran More of a Sinking Feeling
It’s hard to imagine state officials giving the thumbs up to a groundwater sustainability plan that potentially allows Corcoran – California’s subsidence epicenter – to sink another 6 feet. Especially considering the tiny, rural town was forced to spend $14 million in 2017 to rebuild its levees following the 2012-16...
Irrigation Water Prices Under SGMA Induce Sticker Shock
Reaction was hushed when Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District General Manager Eric Averett asked the small group of farmers Tuesday morning if any were interested in buying irrigation water at the previously unheard of price of $770 an acre-foot. No papers rustled. Keyboards went silent. And none of the growers...
Locals Gear Up to Keep Kings River Water
Just as they did more than two generations ago, Kern County farmers are looking to another Central Valley river to the north to refill their groundwater shortfall. But this time around, natives in the Kings River watershed are “sharpening their knives” to fight off what they say is a desperate...
2018 Was a Record-Setting Year for Fresno County Farmers
Fresno County farmers and ranchers shattered the yearly record for the value of what they produced by nearly a billion dollars in 2018. Despite below-average surface water supplies, their crops and livestock totaled $7.888 billion last year, according to the Fresno County Department of Agriculture's annual report released Tuesday. Listen...
Clovis Secures Its Future Growth With FID Water Deals
The Clovis City Council has approved landmark water deals with the Fresno Irrigation District that officials say will secure the city's growth for decades to come. According to the Clovis General Plan, the city expects 280,000 residents in 2083 — 2.5 times its 110,000 population. Plans call for Clovis to...
Trump Said Water Wars 'Easy' to Fix. What Do Farmers Say Now?
Three years ago, presidential candidate Donald Trump got right to the heart of Central Valley agriculture's fight over its most precious resource. “We’re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane," Trump told a campaign audience at Selland Arena in May 2016. "It is...