Tulare Lake

Before the Well Runs Dry: Improving the Linkage Between Groundwater and Land Use Planning

Stanford University | April 17th, 2014

There is no comprehensive regulation of groundwater use in the state of California,* and the right to withdraw groundwater is based on surface land ownership. This create

There is no comprehensive regulation of groundwater use in the state of California,* and the right to withdraw groundwater is based on surface land ownership. This creates a direct linkage between every land use that requires water and the groundwater underneath that land. Because so many aspects of groundwater use are not regulated by the state, local governments’ land use decisions become a key driver of demands on groundwater. Nonetheless, land use decisions and planning are not well coordinated with groundwater management. Understanding how land use decisions affect groundwater resources has become increasingly important in recent years, as groundwater provides approximately 30 percent of California’s water supply in average years and 40 percent of the supply in dry years. In some places, the reliance on groundwater during droughts is much higher, due to reduced supplies of surface water. Growth from housing and irrigated agriculture, among other demands, have led to chronic overdraft and declining groundwater elevations in many communities that rely heavily on groundwater. To address this problem, Water in the West convened groundwater managers, land use planners, water lawyers, consultants and academics at Stanford University for an Uncommon Dialogue in the fall of 2013. Its aim was to discuss a growing consensus that more effective integration of land use planning and groundwater management is an essential component of preserving groundwater aquifers for the future, and to share possible means of accomplishing this in California. This report, shaped in part by the Dialogue, provides the background and regulatory context for land use planning and groundwater management in California, shares case studies that highlight the intersection of groundwater and land use, and makes specific recommendations to improve the linkage between land use decisions and groundwater management in the state. *The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was signed into law five months after this was published. 

Beneath the Surface: Why Reservoirs Won't Solve California's Water Woes

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) | November 19th, 2024

Water storage and conveyance have fundamentally shaped modern California. The vast agricultural industry, as well as globally important cities like Los Angeles, were made

Water storage and conveyance have fundamentally shaped modern California. The vast agricultural industry, as well as globally important cities like Los Angeles, were made possible by storing and moving water around the state. Reservoirs are one of the primary components of California’s water storage system. There are nearly 1,500 surface storage reservoirs throughout the state, which together can store a year’s supply of water for farms and cities. But reservoirs come with high costs. They destroy and degrade habitats and alter flows in rivers and streams, harming native fish and wildlife. They emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases, worsening climate change. They cost taxpayers billions of dollars to build and maintain. And as the climate continues to warm, reservoirs will become less efficient, losing more and more of the water they hold to evaporation.  This report examines reservoirs’ environmental harms and explains why new reservoirs are not the solution to our 21st century water problems. 

Benefit Accounting of Nature-Based Solutions for Watersheds Landscape Assessment

United Nations (UN) | August 3rd, 2020

This landscape assessment is the outcome of Phase 1 of a tri-phased project and was designed to inform the path forward for engaging the private sector to invest in natu

This landscape assessment is the outcome of Phase 1 of a tri-phased project and was designed to inform the path forward for engaging the private sector to invest in nature-based solutions (NBS). A literature review was undertaken to understand the contemporary thinking around NBS and identify key opportunities and challenges faced by decision makers, practitioners and researchers. Interviews conducted with representatives of businesses, civil society and academia who have already implemented NBS projects or are looking to do so yielded qualitative responses to complement or contrast with the findings from the literature review.

Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Delta Conveyance Project

Berkeley Research Group (BRG) | May 16th, 2024

This report presents the results of a benefit-cost analysis for the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), a plan to modernize the State Water Project (SWP)’s conveyance infra

This report presents the results of a benefit-cost analysis for the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), a plan to modernize the State Water Project (SWP)’s conveyance infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta). The SWP plays a crucial role in supplying water resources to 27 million Californians. Businesses in the area served by the SWP produce $2.3 trillion in goods and services annually, making it the world’s eighth-largest economy. The SWP delivers an average of 2.56 million acre-feet of water annually to urban and agricultural customers in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California. However, by 2070, climate change and sea-level rise are expected to reduce SWP deliveries by approximately 22%, or 546 thousand acre-feet per year (TAF/yr). In addition, the SWP faces an ongoing risk of service disruptions following seismic events near the Delta; these events could cause outages and reduce the quality of water exports from the SWP south of the Delta.

Best Management Practices of the Sustainable Management of Groundwater: Land Subsidence (Draft)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 23rd, 2025

For almost a century, parts of California have been gradually sinking, impacting critical infrastructure and the communities who rely on it. Recognizing this challenge, t

For almost a century, parts of California have been gradually sinking, impacting critical infrastructure and the communities who rely on it. Recognizing this challenge, the Department of Water Resources has released a draft Best Management Practices document for public comment that will help local water agencies address this growing concern and support groundwater reliant communities. Click here for the full DWR press release.

Better late than never: a synthesis of strategic land retirement and restoration in California

Ecological Society of America (Wiley) | August 10th, 2018

Strategic retirement and restoration of agricultural lands is a critical conservation opportunity globally. The objective of this synthesis was to examine whether ecolog

Strategic retirement and restoration of agricultural lands is a critical conservation opportunity globally. The objective of this synthesis was to examine whether ecological habitat assessments, endangered species historical occurrence data, and restoration research can be used to develop evidence-based strategy for retiring and restoring agricultural lands. The San Joaquin Desert (SJD) of California is a prominent example because it experienced an extensive conversion to agriculture. Now, new groundwater regulations will lead to retirement on large areas of agricultural lands over the next 20 years. This presents an opportunity to not only restore some of these lands but also explore the challenges associated with balancing direct human needs with other ecosystem-level functions. California is thus an ideal case study for globally rethinking context-specific, single-case study solutions. We used a systematic review and synthesis to address the following three main questions for habitat recovery of endangered species in the SJD. (1) What are the habitat requirements for key endangered animal species in the region? (2) Is there historical evidence to support an assessment of suitable habitats for these species? (3) What restoration techniques apply to these species? Using the Web of Science and other resources, we reviewed over 1000 independent studies on this topic, refined the evidence, and selected a total of 266 relevant publications. Habitat requirements for each species were described, but there was a critical need to examine quantitative thresholds for these factors to better evaluate habitat suitability of retired lands. There was sufficient evidence of historical vegetation to model suitable habitats and design the physical restoration of retired lands. Direct interventions associated with restoration strategies have been infrequently tested. Sparse and diverse evidence associated with direct experimental manipulations is not uncommon in applied ecology, and synthesis is an excellent tool for highlighting these gaps for future research to examine. This review suggests that retired agricultural land is a viable asset for threatened and endangered species, but to effectively advance restoration research and management, direct tests of restoration techniques and an assessment of relative costs for interventions are needed for a given region.

Beyond the Haze: A UC Dust Report on the Causes, Impacts, and Future of Dust Storms in California

University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) | December 5th, 2024

This report is intended to be a comprehensive summary of the current state of knowledge of dust storms in California, including where dust storms occur, the features cont

This report is intended to be a comprehensive summary of the current state of knowledge of dust storms in California, including where dust storms occur, the features contributing to their geographic distribution, factors driving historical and likely future changes in dust, the impact dust storms have on human health, the economy, and environment of the state, and an assessment of what is needed to mitigate or adapt to those impacts. The purpose of this report is to be a resource to the public, community-based organizations, state agencies, and policy makers on dust storms in California. The information here is intended to help guide future adaptation and mitigation efforts and identify critical gaps in understanding that impede those efforts.

Bring Back the Kern et al vs. the City of Bakersfield

Superior Court of California, County of Kern | February 5th, 2024

Bringing Water and Land Use Together

Local Government Commission | April 11th, 2019

In 2005, the California Legislature passed new laws that enable communities to join together to adopt Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) policies and practices.

In 2005, the California Legislature passed new laws that enable communities to join together to adopt Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) policies and practices. This comprehensive planning approach considers water resources in the context of an interconnected watershed with a network of regional governance, rather than as a combination of fragmented parts. Unfortunately, the IRWM program is dominated by the water sector and in most regions has not pursued alignment with land use. Similarly, the Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) mandated through SB 375 establish a framework for aligning land use practices (predominantly housing and transportation) across jurisdictions within a larger geographic region. Yet very few SCSs have taken water resources into account. While water management and land-use planning remain highly fragmented across the state, we are making progress toward a more integrated approach, especially when setting new state-level policies, regulations and guidance. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is a leap forward in this direction. For the first time, local land use agencies have an opportunity to be full partners with water agencies in shaping groundwater governance. It is too soon to determine how well these two sectors are integrating under SGMA, but early results are promising.

Buena Vista Groundwater Sustainability Agency Amended Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Buena Vista Groundwater Sustainability Agency (BVGSA) | July 27th, 2022

The revised and resubmitted information presented in this amended GSP has been prepared in response to DWR’s Incomplete Determination of the 2020 Groundwater Sustainabi

The revised and resubmitted information presented in this amended GSP has been prepared in response to DWR’s Incomplete Determination of the 2020 Groundwater Sustainability Plans Submitted for the San Joaquin Valley - Kern County Subbasin. This GSP, including all modifications, has been adopted by the Board of the BVGSA and will be implemented accordingly. All changes included in this version of the amended GSP are redlined. This version is accompanied by a clean version of the GSP where all redlined edits and additions have been accepted. Due to size, this file has been divided. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3