BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – California is the last state in the western U.S. to regulate groundwater use. That topic was on the agenda at Wednesday’s Kern County Water Summit.
Under a state law passed in 2014, all water districts in California must have a plan in place by the year 2020 that shows how they will protect groundwater supplies on a sustained basis, to prevent overdraft of our groundwater basins.
Beth Pandol of the Water Association of Kern County says it’s a huge and complex undertaking.
“We have a lot of questions about how it’s going to be managed here, how it’s going to be regulated, what we’ll have to do to make sure we have enough water for farms and cities and what’s going to happen, whether we’ll have to take land out of production or not,” she said.
Wednesday’s water summit was sponsored by the Water Association of Kern County.
As published by KGET News on March 7, 2018
Original URL: http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/local-news/kern-county-water-summit-tackles-groundwater-use-regulation/1019634316