As water levels in California’s rivers and reservoirs drop, farmers increasingly rely on groundwater. That’s causing land to sink in the San Joaquin Valley. And the state’s reliance is likely to grow.
“They’re may be permanent damage going on to some of our groundwater basins," says Matt Rodriguez, Secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency.
"We’re seeing subsidence in portions of the state, those are situations where state action may be warranted,” he says.
Governor Brown’s budget would fund more staff and spend almost eight million dollars on managing and monitoring groundwater use. Kathryn Phillips with the Sierra Club is pleased.
“Groundwater is something that we haven’t monitored very well in this state we haven’t regulated very well and this is a case where more regulation is needed,” she says.
Rodriguez says the state would only step in if local or regional agencies are unable or unwilling to manage groundwater.
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