FEATURE STORY
Groundwater: A Tale of Two States In California and Arizona, 2023 legislation sets a new playing field for negotiating the fiery topic of water. By Kara Timmins, Communications Manager E very grower’s water story is unique, but just like water, everything is intrinsically connected. With new groundwater basin classification and a rain response executive order in California alongside a newly-formed council tasked with groundwater management in Arizona, the water terrain for these two states in 2024 is shaping up to be turbulent. Below, Western Growers provides an update of the recent legislative movement around groundwater in these two states. California 2023 Overview
some of the constraints that were hindering groundwater recharge by expediting permitting. Though the Executive Order was a move in the right direction, aligning with growers and investing in ways to support a large-scale recharge is a way forward to meet Newsom’s goal to increase average annual groundwater recharge by about 500,000 acre-feet. Some of that support could come through weaving of the new designation of groundwater reservoirs as natural infrastructures with a climate resilience general obligation bond that could potentially land on the November 2024 ballot. Agriculture and water agencies across California are advocating for a $7.85 billion bond investment in water infrastructure that focuses on a number of critical water issues, including recycled water, groundwater recharge, storage, flood protection, dam safety, conveyance, storage, safe drinking water, water quality, regional watershed resilience, State Water Project improvements and water conservation. Arizona 2023 Overview Though the complexities of groundwater resources change from one basin to the next, the chain of difference does not live on a gradient. One stark line is drawn in the arid sand: the California and Arizona border. The story of Arizona groundwater has its own arc, and one of the current key players is Gov. Katie Hobbs. After one year into her term as governor, she has made it clear that water use is a focus of her administration. In January 2023, she also issued an Executive Order to modernize Arizona’s groundwater management by establishing
Those in California who rely on the rain, rivers and groundwater resources to grow food and fiber for an expanding population know that weather and the precipitation it brings isn’t reliably cyclical. Yet the conversations around water management and the regulatory measures that result from that discussion don’t recognize that reality, instead moving at a glacial pace. The concept seems simple enough: when the rain comes, be ready to capture it. And if accounting metaphors apply, saving for a non-rainy day means the groundwater basins are one of the options for a savings account. Early 2023 brought heavy rain to California after a long and difficult stretch of drought years. And with the influx, the water showed the holes in California’s system. In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued executive order N-3-23. In this Executive Order, he recognized that “the frequency of hydrologic extremes experienced in the State is indicative of an overarching need to continually re-examine policies to promote resiliency in a changing climate.” The Executive Order also states that “groundwater use accounts for 41 percent of the State’s total water supply on an average annual basis but as much as 58 percent in a critically dry year, and approximately 85 percent of public water systems rely on groundwater as their primary supply; and capturing and storing storm and snowpack runoff underground to recharge aquifers is an important strategy to help regions stabilize water supplies in the face of hydrologic extremes.” To meet the stated aims, the Executive Order alleviated
A drone provides an aerial view of the California Department of Water Resources first 2024 water release from the Lake Oroville flood control gates
20
MARCH | APRIL 2024
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker