1. Manage and maintain groundwater basins like dams and reservoirs<\/strong><\/p>\n Historically, we didn\u2019t pay much attention to groundwater until something went wrong, like wells going dry, people running out of drinking water or land sinking \u2014 all of which happened during California\u2019s last drought. As a result, groundwater management has been underfunded and undermonitored, and this enormously valuable resource has gone underutilized.<\/p>\n Instead, we should think of groundwater basins from an engineering standpoint as valuable infrastructure \u2014 natural infrastructure<\/a>. Groundwater is a truly magical resource that we can manage more strategically to create a more resilient future for California and other parts of the world.<\/p>\n Like our dams, canals and water pipes, groundwater basins already collect, store and deliver water to groundwater users, who tap into this storage and delivery system through wells. Like other man-made water infrastructure, we need to closely monitor and maintain our groundwater basins. And with proactive strategies like managed recharge, these groundwater basins can provide the added benefit of serving as multiyear buffers against more extreme weather.<\/p>\n 2. Don\u2019t blame SGMA<\/strong><\/p>\n SGMA offers us a framework to better take advantage of the valuable benefits provided by groundwater basins, but some have painted it as the culprit of future job and revenue losses in the San Joaquin Valley.<\/p>\n I empathize with valley communities, farmers and farm workers worried about how bringing groundwater basins into balance will affect their future and the region\u2019s economy. But SGMA is not the problem. Rather, we are in this situation because of our decades-long reliance on unsustainable groundwater pumping to meet our water needs.<\/p>\n Without SGMA, overpumping would certainly have continued much longer, creating a condition where the deepest well wins, and communities, small farmers and ecosystems lose.<\/p>\n However, you can\u2019t continue to overdraw an account indefinitely. Eventually, groundwater pumping would have to be curbed, and farmland losses and economic impacts would be even more severe than under SGMA. Without SGMA, the impacts would be uncontrolled and the costs would fall even more heavily on those least able to bear them.<\/p>\n SGMA enables local managers to steer the transition to a balanced groundwater system in a deliberate way that avoids a destructive race to the bottom. And, if done smartly, we can even bring state guidance and funding to bear and steer toward a better future by unlocking more benefits of proactive groundwater management. Three ways groundwater managers, farmers and policymakers can ensure more sustainable water supplies for California. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n 3. Help farmers and communities plan creatively and build resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n Under SGMA, we can use strategies such as better water accounting, water transactions, infrastructure improvements, integrated management of groundwater and surface water, and managed aquifer recharge to reduce economic losses and build a better, more resilient future for the San Joaquin Valley.<\/p>\n With sustainability agencies in place, communities can use the authorities and flexibility in SGMA to encourage farming adjustments, plan proactively, think creatively and collaborate on solutions to develop a new vision for their economic wellbeing.<\/p>\n The Newsom administration has signaled that the state is ready to dig in, with guidance and resources to help. So the time is now to roll up our sleeves and get to work, because this won\u2019t be easy and new ideas and successful collaborations take time to be perfected.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2020\/04\/snowpack-1024x683.jpg\")
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Photo: Ken James \/ California Department of Water Resources<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n