1 Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res. Groundwater Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop August 10, 2015 Andy Sawyer State Water Resources Control Board Rob Sawyer Remy Moose Manley LLP

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The Nature of California’s Aquifers  Valley Fill Aquifers – Most of California’s Aquifers Loose or Semi-consolidated Sediments Filling Valleys between Mountains or Hills Bounded by Less Permeable Rock Valley Fill Sediments Underlying Bedrock Groundwater (Water-saturated Sediments)

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High Groundwater Levels Groundwater Maintains Stream Flow “Gaining Stream” Groundwater – Surface Water Connection

Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater “Losing Stream” Groundwater – Surface Water Connection

Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater Groundwater Levels Below Stream Channel “Losing Stream” Groundwater – Surface Water Connection

Pumping Lowers Groundwater Levels Stream Loses Flow to Groundwater Seepage to Groundwater Exceeds Stream Flow Dry Stream Channel (Intermittently or Year-round) Dry Stream Groundwater – Surface Water Connection

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 Net Stream Gain or Loss by Central Valley Region Historical and Status Quo Future Conditions

Change in Central Valley Groundwater Storage 12

Photos: USGS

Seawater Intrusion

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems Image:

Groundwater Rights 16 Source: USGS

17 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.)

Katz v. Walkinshaw (1903) 141 Cal. 116 Recognizing common law overlying and appropriative water rights 18 Justice Lucien Shaw. Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association

Hudson Hudson v. Dailey (1909) 156 Cal. 617, 627 Adopting the “common source” doctrine 19 Justice Lucien Shaw. Photo: Los Angeles County Bar Association

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21 Images: NASA

Paso Robles Groundwater Conflict Change in Paso Robles Groundwater Levels Source: Paso Robles Groundwater Management Plan

USGS, 2013 Poland, 1977 CWF, 2014

24 Source: KCRA

25 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Requires local basin plans for high- and medium- priority basins Provides local management tools Allows state review and intervention Sets goals and deadlines

26 Bulletin 118 Groundwater Basins

27 High- and Medium- Priority Basins

Establishing Groundwater Sustainability Agencies  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  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

30 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 § (a)(3)

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

33 The State Role

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36 State Intervention

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Follow-up Legislation? o S.B. 13; A.B. 617 o S.B. 20; S.B. 83 o Adjudication Reform S.B. 220; A.B o Underground Storage A.B

39 What About Areas Not Subject to the Sustainable Groundwater Management A ct?

40 Photo: UC Div. of Ag. & Nat. Res. Groundwater Sierra Water Workgroup Workshop August 10, 2015 Andy Sawyer State Water Resources Control Board Rob Sawyer Remy Moose Manley LLP

41 Questions?

Pumped Groundwater Basin Initial Level of Use Ground Surface Recharge/Leakage from River River Domestic Wells High Capacity Wells Groundwater Level

Pumped Groundwater Basin Increased Level of Use Ground Surface Increased Leakage from River River Stranded Domestic Wells Groundwater Level New High Capacity Wells

Pumped Groundwater Basin Increased Level of Use Ground Surface Increased Leakage from River River New Domestic Wells Must be Deeper Groundwater Level

Ground Surface River Even More Leakage from River Pumped Groundwater Basin Even More Use More New Wells Groundwater Level

46 Does the Public Trust Apply to Groundwater?

47 Source: UCD

Scott River Photo: Felice Pace

ELF v. State Water Board 49

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]. 50 Waiāhole Stream Photo: Hawai’I Commission on Water Resource Management

51 Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group v. City of San Jose (2003) 114 Cal.App.4 th 689, 709 [The public trust doctrine has no application to groundwater where there is no threat to surface waterways.] Metcalf Energy Center. Photo: Calpine

52 National Audubon Society v. Superior Court (1983) 33 Cal.3d 419 Justice Allen E. Broussard. Photo: California Supreme Court Historical Society

53 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