[env-trinity] Capital Press: Factions debate state's role in water monitoring

[Mark Dowdle - TCRCD]

http://www.capitalpress.com/content/TH-groundwater-w-photos-infobox-122311


      Factions debate state's role in water monitoring

'If you can't have water you can't grow a crop and you can't make a living'

By TIM HEARDEN <mailto:thearden at capitalpress.com>

Capital Press

CORNING, Calif. -- The debate over what to do about declining 
ground-water supplies took center stage during a recent water seminar here.

In California, 30 percent of total water usage is provided by ground 
water, making the Golden State the biggest user of ground water in the 
nation, and 43 percent of the state's residents obtain drinking water 
from aquifers, said Kelly Staton, a senior engineering geologist for the 
state Department of Water Resources.

Studies show that water tables in the Sacramento Valley dropped an 
average of 5 feet from 2004 to 2010, although they've gained back about 
2 feet since last year, Staton explained.

"Compared to 2004, we haven't quite recharged yet," she told about 100 
farmers, environmentalists and government officials during an all-day 
workshop offered by the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Environmentalists such as Marty Dunlap of the Chico, Calif.-based 
Citizens Water Watch wondered aloud whether the aquifers will ever fully 
recharge. They blame what they see as overuse of wells for endangering 
the creeks and trees that rely on the aquifers to thrive.

"I'm just wondering who's going to step in when ground water is critical 
in Northern California," Dunlap said. "It seems like nobody is really 
taking responsibility."

The exchanges highlight what may be the next key battleground in 
California's ongoing water conflicts, as conservationists seek to have 
ground water regulated as it is in other states.

Already, the Environmental Law Foundation and other groups are suing the 
State Water Resources Control Board and Siskiyou County over well 
irrigation they say is depleting water for salmon in the Scott River. 
The suit could affect farmers' use of ground water throughout the state, 
Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong has said.

Tehama County Supervisor Bob Williams, an oat and alfalfa hay producer, 
said there's a "quiet movement" in the state to have ground water 
included under California's Public Trust Doctrine, which applies to 
surface water and migratory wildlife.

"There are folks who'd like to see California become like other states 
where the state has control over all water ... and in dry years can deny 
usage," Williams said during the workshop. "As a farmer, and I know 
there are a lot of farmers here, I know if you can't have water you 
can't grow a crop and you can't make a living.

"We need to pay attention, we need to be educated and we need folks to 
talk to their local leaders and help them understand ... both sides of 
the issue," he said.

Many factors can affect local and regional ground-water levels, 
including crop or other land-use changes, bloom and harvest seasons, 
changes in irrigation methods and, of course, precipitation, Staton 
explained.

Ground water will be included in the next version of a program 
regulating contaminants such as nitrates, which come from agricultural 
applications, said Ben Letton of the Redding, Calif.-based Central 
Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. In addition, some counties 
have implemented ground-water monitoring ordinances.

But the efforts need more teeth to them, asserted Dunlap.

"It seems to me that it's not very prudent to wait for an emergency 
situation to see that counties have the authority to make sure their 
ecosystems are protected," she said.

Online

California Department of Water Resources: http://www.water.ca.gov/ 
<http://www.water.ca.gov/>

State Water Resources Control Board: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/ 
<http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/>

Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board: 
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/ <http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/>rwqcb5/



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