Groundwater
Andy Sawyer
Rob Sawyer
State Water Resources Control Board
Remy Moose Manley LLP
Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop
August 10, 2015
Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res.
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The Nature of California’s Aquifers
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•
•
•
Valley Fill Aquifers – Most of California’s Aquifers
Loose or Semi-consolidated Sediments
Filling Valleys between Mountains or Hills
Bounded by Less Permeable Rock
Groundwater
(Water-saturated
Sediments)
Valley Fill Sediments
Underlying Bedrock
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Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
“Gaining Stream”
High Groundwater Levels
Groundwater Maintains Stream Flow
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
“Losing Stream”
Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels
Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
“Losing Stream”
Groundwater Levels Below Stream Channel
Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels
Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater
Groundwater – Surface Water Connection
Dry Stream
Seepage to Groundwater Exceeds Stream Flow
Dry Stream Channel (Intermittently or Year-round)
Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels
Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater
Supply

About 15 MAF pumped per
year
 A third of California’s total
supply in average year,
greater during drought
 80% of Californians rely on
groundwater
 CA pumps more
groundwater in a single
year than the rest of the
nation combined
Net Stream Gain or Loss by Central Valley Region
Historical and Status Quo Future Conditions
Change in Central Valley Groundwater
Storage
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Photos: USGS
Seawater Intrusion
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
Image:
Groundwater Rights
Source: USGS
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English Common Law—Absolute
Ownership
“Each owner has an equal and complete right to the use of his
land, and to the water which is in it. . . . [Groundwater] influences
“are so secret, changeable and uncontroulable [sic], we cannot
subject them to the regulations of law, nor build upon them a
system of rules, as has been done with streams upon the
surface.” (Roath v. Driscoll (1850) 20 Conn. 532, 540 [emphasis in
original].)
“The rule is well established that the principles of law which
govern the right to waters flowing upon the surface of the earth
are inapplicable to waters which are beneath its surface and
percolate through the soil. The water which is held by the soil is a
portion of the soil itself, and belongs to the owner of the land.”
(Gould v. Eaton (1896) 111 Cal. 639, 644.)
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Katz v. Walkinshaw
(1903) 141 Cal. 116
Recognizing common
law overlying and
appropriative water
rights
Justice Lucien Shaw.
Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association
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Hudson v. Dailey
(1909) 156 Cal. 617, 627
Adopting the “common
source” doctrine
Justice Lucien Shaw.
Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association
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Images: NASA
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Paso Robles Groundwater Conflict
Change in Paso
Robles Groundwater
Levels
1997 - 2013
Source: Paso Robles Groundwater Management Plan
USGS, 2013
Poland, 1977
CWF, 2014
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Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
 Requires local basin plans
for high- and mediumpriority basins
 Provides local management
tools
 Allows state review and
intervention
 Sets goals and deadlines
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Bulletin 118 Groundwater Basins
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High- and
MediumPriority Basins
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Establishing Groundwater
Sustainability Agencies
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Local agency, or combination of
agencies with coordination
agreement
Local agency election:


Listed agencies with groundwater
management powers get first dibs, but
can elect not to.
Counties are presumptively the agencies
for “white spot” areas not within the area
of another local agency that elects to
manage, but the county may opt out
 CEQA applies to local agency formation
New Local Management Tools
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
Aligns local groundwater agencies
with basin boundaries
Authorizes agencies to:






Register wells
Measure extractions
Require reports
Manage extractions
Assess Fees
Local plans are exempt from
CEQA
Monetization
• Authorizes agencies to:
• Regulate and limit pumping
allocations
• Authorize leasing of pumping
rights
• Authorize sales of pumping
rights
• (Provided leases and sales are
consistent with the sustainability
plan.)
• Water Code § 10726.4(a)(3)
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Key dates for local agencies
What is sustainable
groundwater management?
Managing groundwater during the 50-year
planning horizon without causing “significant
and unreasonable”:
•Chronic lowering of groundwater levels
•Reductions in storage
•Seawater intrusion
•Degradation of groundwater quality
•Land subsidence
•Surface water depletions
The State Role
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State Intervention
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Follow-up Legislation?
o
o
o
o
S.B. 13; A.B.
617
S.B. 20; S.B.
83
Adjudication
Reform S.B.
220; A.B. 1390
Underground
Storage A.B.
647
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What About Areas Not Subject to the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act?
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Groundwater
Andy Sawyer
Rob Sawyer
State Water Resources Control Board
Remy Moose Manley LLP
Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop
August 10, 2015
Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res.
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Questions?
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Pumped Groundwater Basin
Initial Level of Use
High Capacity Wells
Domestic Wells
Ground Surface
River
Groundwater Level
Recharge/Leakage
from River
Pumped Groundwater Basin
Increased Level of Use
New High Capacity Wells
Stranded Domestic Wells
Ground Surface
River
Increased
Leakage
from River
Groundwater Level
Pumped Groundwater Basin
Increased Level of Use
New Domestic Wells
Must be Deeper
Ground Surface
River
Increased
Leakage
from River
Groundwater Level
Pumped Groundwater Basin
Even More Use
More New Wells
Ground Surface
River
Even More
Leakage
from River
Groundwater Level
Does the Public Trust Apply to Groundwate
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Source: UCD
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Scott River
ELF v. State Water Board
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In the Matter of the Water Use Permit Applications, Petitions for Interim
Instream Flow Standard Amendments, and Petitions for Water
Reservations for the Waiāhole Ditch Combined Contested Case
Hearing (2000) 94 Hawai’i 97 [9 P.3d 409].
Waiāhole Stream
Photo: Hawai’I Commission on Water Resource Management
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Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group v. City of
San Jose (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 689, 709
[The public trust doctrine has no application
to groundwater where there is no threat to
surface waterways.]
Metcalf Energy Center. Photo: Calpine
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National Audubon Society v. Superior Court
(1983) 33 Cal.3d 419
Justice Allen E. Broussard. Photo: California Supreme Court Historical Society
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A variant of the public trust doctrine applies to fish in
non-navigable streams (California Trout, Inc. v. State
Water Resources Control Board (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d
585)
Fishing in lower Rush Creek (1948) Photo: Elden Vestel
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