A State Role in Supporting Groundwater Trading with Safeguards for Vulnerable Users: Findings and Next Steps

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | May 18th, 2022

In those parts of California where groundwater pumping has long exceeded replenishment, people are striving to bring groundwater basins into sustainable conditions within

In those parts of California where groundwater pumping has long exceeded replenishment, people are striving to bring groundwater basins into sustainable conditions within 20 years, between 2040 and 2042, as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires. In some areas, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) – the local agencies tasked with sustainable groundwater management – are beginning to work with other entities and stakeholders to discuss and experiment with the idea of giving groundwater pumpers allocations – allowances to remove a certain amount of water from a groundwater basin – and allowing them to either use their allocation individually or trade allocations between specified parties. Ideally, groundwater trading could ease the economic disruption of cutting back the overall amount of water pumped from a groundwater basin; growers who have less need for pumping could sell their allocation to others willing to pay for it, helping buyers keep their operations functional while compensating sellers. But the concept of groundwater trading raises many questions: How would wetlands, streams, and other ecosystems fed by aquifers be treated in a groundwater trading program? Would operators of farms who lack the resources of larger neighbors be able to benefit from trading? How might trading affect people who depend upon a household well or communities that need reliable groundwater supplies for homes and businesses? How can GSAs work with local stakeholders to develop, implement, and oversee trading programs that help with sustainable groundwater management? There is a State interest behind all of these questions – and a clear need for a focused discussion about groundwater trading.

Estuary News, April 2003

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | April 15th, 2003

Groundwater and Urban Growth in the San Joaquin Valley

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | September 20th, 2021

The San Joaquin Valley is ground zero for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). It has the largest groundwater deficit in California and faces some of the

The San Joaquin Valley is ground zero for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). It has the largest groundwater deficit in California and faces some of the worst impacts from overdraft, including land subsidence and drying wells. SGMA will help the region address these issues—while also building its climate resilience. But this will require hard work, not only by farmers—the largest groundwater users—but also by the valley’s urban water utilities, which serve a growing population while relying mostly on groundwater. As the valley confronts limits on groundwater pumping, urban utilities, local land use authorities, other water users, and state agencies must all engage to ensure a smooth transition for the region’s residents.

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

United States Congress | August 6th, 2022

Click "get document" for the entire bill. Scroll below to see its drought relief amendment.

Click "get document" for the entire bill. Scroll below to see its drought relief amendment.

Optimization of environmental water purchases with uncertainty

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | August 5th, 2006

Water managers are turning increasingly to market solutions to meet new environmental demands for water in fully allocated systems. This paper presents a three-stage pr

Water managers are turning increasingly to market solutions to meet new environmental demands for water in fully allocated systems. This paper presents a three-stage probabilistic optimization model that identifies least cost strategies for staged seasonal water purchases for an environmental water acquisition program given hydrologic, operational, and biological uncertainties. Multistage linear programming is used to minimize the expected cost of long-term, spot, and option water purchases used to meet uncertain environmental demands. Results prescribe the location, timing, and type of optimal water purchases and illustrate how least cost strategies change as information becomes available during the year. Results also provide sensitivity analysis, including shadow values that estimate the expected cost of additional dedicated environmental water. The model’s application to California’s Environmental Water Account is presented with a discussion of its utility for planning and policy purposes. Model limitations and sensitivity analysis are discussed, as are operational and research recommendations.

Pathways and Barriers to Corporate Water Stewardship in the Colorado River Basin

Pacific Institute | October 24th, 2023

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. It supports 30 Native American tribes and farms, cities, and ecosystems in seven US states—Arizona, California

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. It supports 30 Native American tribes and farms, cities, and ecosystems in seven US states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—and the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora. However, the river is in crisis. Twenty-three years of drought, the over-allocation of water, and climate change have exacerbated a structural deficit—where more water leaves the system than enters it—for the tribes, communities, and ecosystems that depend on the Colorado River. To advance water resilience in the Colorado River Basin (Basin), accelerated action and investment are required from all sectors. These efforts must be strategic, coordinated, and amplified to effectively tackle the Basin’s challenges. Corporations can play a key role through their operations and supply chains, and by co-funding innovative projects. While a subset of leading companies is engaging in corporate water stewardship (CWS) in the Basin, more is needed to meet the magnitude of the water crisis at hand. This report outlines barriers and pathways to CWS in the Basin based on 20 interviews with corporate and non-corporate stakeholders from February to April 2022, and interviewee feedback on the results. The report is part of a broader Pacific Institute effort to advance CWS in the Basin. We are using these findings to prioritize CWS projects, initiatives, and approaches to pilot and scale in the Basin. More broadly, the findings are applicable to moving CWS toward building long-term water resilience in the Basin and other water-stressed basins around the world.