This year marks the 10th anniversary of a major milestone in California water law history: the enactment of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014. This landmark legislation signaled a critical step toward...more
Contrary to the catastrophic picture painted by news sources around the country, Arizona is not out of water, construction has not been suspended, and a construction moratorium has not been issued by the Governor. The real...more
A key priority of the Newsom Administration – the Delta Conveyance Project – has officially entered its next chapter. On July 22, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its draft environmental impact report (Draft...more
Modified Annual Water Diversion and Use Reporting Deadlines On September 23, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 115 into law, modifying the deadline and reporting period for annual water diversion and use...more
January 2022 was a busy month for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued remaining assessments for groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) for critically...more
Limited water supply, restrictions on use, and higher costs may be in store for next year if the state’s drought conditions persist. This year has been critically dry and hot for California, resulting in déjà vu as the...more
Last week, on Nov. 18, 2021, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released assessments of eight additional Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs), adding to the four assessments released as reported in our June...more
As the clock slowly ticks forward on California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) deadlines, earlier this month, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued its first assessments of groundwater...more
The wait is over for some Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the first Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) assessments for four basins yesterday, June 3,...more
Earlier this month, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the draft California’s Groundwater – Update 2020. According to DWR’s website...more
Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Code offers a unique opportunity for the public to get involved in shaping water policy through the process of adopting management plans for the Active Management Areas (“AMAs”). The process is...more
In November 2019, the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released the results of an updated groundwater model that projects a groundwater availability deficit over the next 100 years in the Pinal Active Management...more
The Department of Water Resources released its draft groundwater basin prioritization for 57 groundwater basins this week. Comments can be submitted on the proposed prioritization for those basins until May 30....more
After five parched years, substantial winter rains and Sierra snowpack have brought California a long-sought reprieve from drought, though not without presenting a new set of challenges. In February, nearly 200,000 residents...more
Water is a real estate issue, a business issue, a taxpayer issue. Whether you're a developer, a farmer, a city manager, a manufacturer, or "just" a taxpayer, I think you’ll be hearing a lot more about water in the next few...more
The California Department of Water Resources has released an interim update of Bulletin 118, the state’s primary groundwater information resource. The update addresses time-sensitive information that agencies will need to...more
California has moved one step closer to implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”), California’s landmark groundwater legislation. On Wednesday, May 18, the California Water Commission adopted a set of...more
Ready or not, California’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) is here and mine operators should be vigilant in monitoring and actively participating in developments under the law. Previously, the use of...more
At the intersection of water and politics, a cross section of water professionals including agency staff, engineers, attorneys and consultants convened in Sacramento March 30 to spend a day with an outstanding lineup of...more
The Obama Administration released an action plan for long-term drought resilience that will impact the way state and local water agencies interact with the federal government on drought prevention and response efforts....more
The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) recent release of draft emergency regulations for developing and evaluating groundwater sustainability plans marks continued progress toward implementation of the Sustainable...more
On October 21, 2015, the California Water Commission (“CWC”) adopted emergency regulations formulated by the Department of Water Resources (“DWR”) that establish a process by which local agencies may seek groundwater basin...more
Bills Addresses Traditional Costs and Delays in Adjudications - On October 9, 2015, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a pair of bills designed to streamline groundwater basin adjudications and align them with requirements under...more
Sept. 4 closed the comment period for the draft emergency basin boundaries rule issued by the California Department of Water Resources under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Of the 34 comments made publicly...more
Emergency Regulations and List of Overdrafted Basins - The clock is ticking for submission of public comments on two groundwater-related issues being addressed by the California Department of Water Resources....more