Click the link to read the article on The San Francisco Chronicle website (Kurtis Alexander). Here’s an excerpt:
As Californians pump increasing amounts of water from the ground, sometimes siphoning flows from the rivers above and hurting fish, wildlife and other water users, an old state law is proving to be a new and successful means of reining in excessive pumping. A Superior Court judge ruled last week that Sonoma County must do more to ensure responsible groundwater pumping under the state’s Public Trust Doctrine. The historical doctrine holds that rivers, creeks and other waterways must be protected for the public. Groundwater has only recently been considered part of the Public Trust Doctrine, as the hydrological connection between waterways and below-ground water supplies has become clear. The new court decision is likely the first to enforce this. The ruling will not only require Sonoma County to revisit and perhaps rewrite its ordinance for permitting groundwater wells, but it could set the stage for other counties to similarly step up regulation for groundwater pumping. With aquifers being overdrawn across the state as above-ground supplies get squeezed, environmentalists are optimistic that this will be the case.
“This ruling is particularly welcome given steadily growing groundwater pumping, declining natural resources and a changing climate that is making droughts deeper and longer,” said Barry Nelson, founder of the consulting company Western Water Strategies. “We hope this decision will be followed by counties statewide so that they start considering impacts on surface flows more seriously when permitting groundwater pumping.”