Report calls for water permits

Pioneer Press

Fort Jones, CA

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

page 1 col  6

California's top state Legislative analyst has released a report on California's water supply that could lead to regulating groundwater supplies and rewriting the state's water-rights laws.

 

The Legislative Analyst report notes that California is one of just two Western states - the other is Texas - that does not have a state-run groundwater permitting law. The report also suggests that lawmakers revise the legal definition of "reasonable use" when it comes to water rights. Neither proposal sits well with the farming and ranching community. But that's not stopping Catherine Freeman, the author of the report, from pushing the issue, which could get new life when the Legislature convenes in January.

Texas has so severely over used its Ogallala Aquifer that some small towns have had to be abandoned, the report showed.

Freeman's report shows that groundwater makes up nearly 40 percent of the state's water supply in dry years, a level that many experts do not believe is sustainable. Groundwater pumping makes up only 21 percent of the state's water supply in wet years. Much of Southern California already requires permits to pump groundwater.

But Mike Wade of the California Farm Water Coalition says statewide permitting isn't needed.

"Local water districts and regions do manage groundwater and have done so for decades," he told the Capitol Ag Press newspaper.

Freeman's report includes a section on how much water the same crops use in different areas, such as San Joaquin County and coastal California. This could lead to policymakers declaring that growing a certain crop - for example, Alfalfa -- in a certain area does not qualify as a "reasonable use" of water, essentially banning it. California is a leading alfalfa producer and alfalfa hay is a main feed source for the state's livestock and dairy herd.

 

Alfalfa requires a lot of water, and critics say that valuable California farmland would be better used growing higher-dollar crops such as grapes or almonds.

But Wade argues that California's dairy and cattle industries would suffer if they had to import hay from somewhere else. Even more, he argues that high-yielding dry lands in California produce food in the cold winter months, the profits from which trump the costs of extra water.

Republicans have historically opposed any changes to water-rights law and have consistently voted against groundwater legislation and rural democrats in the Central Valley could still block changes.

 

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