Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/267019
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a r - A p r 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 5 9 2. Monitoring and assessment of water quality and water level with data management systems 3. Governance structures with man- agement to address impacts 4. Funding to support monitoring, governance and management 5. Oversight and enforcement in basins where management is not protecting groundwater P r o v i d i n g c o m m e n t s o n t h e draft workplan, California Farm Bureau Federation managing coun- sel Christian Scheuring said, "As proven by many highly successful examples of responsible groundwa- ter management around the state, we believe that effective local solu- tions are not only possible, but that such solutions offer the only workable approach to sustainable groundwater quantity management in our state." Adequate surface water supply and increasing storage are strate- gies to prevent groundwater over- draft. Overdraft in the Central Valley south of the Sacramento-San Joa- quin Delta has occurred from agricul- tural pumping for the past century, one reason the state and federal government began building the Cali- fornia State Water Project in the 1950s to move surface water south. Water demand has increased, and ecosystem requirements now exist for water flows, with little increase in supply. Project water is conveyed through the Delta, and infrastruc- ture limits storage and conveyance of excess water during high precipi- tation years. A proposal from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (now in public comment stage) to build twin tun- nels beneath the Delta could help move excess water to the San Joa- quin Valley and Southern Califor- nia, but it faces major political and financial hurdles. Investments by water districts and regional groups in surface- water and groundwater storage and recharge projects are needed for sustainable water management, but currently, it's still cheaper to drill wells. The state is placing more empha- sis on monitoring and metering groundwater pumping. Following 2009 legislation, DWR established the California Statewide Groundwa- ter Elevation Monitoring program, with the goal of monitoring seasonal and long-term trends in groundwa- ter elevation for all 515 basins state- wide. Agricultural pump and well metering is not a statewide require- ment, but it could be in the future. Ted Rieger, CSW, is a writer and photographer based in Sacramento, Calif., and has been a contributing editor for V&WM since 1990. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. High-tech meets handcrafted. High-tech meets High-tech meets High-tech meets handcrafted. handcrafted. handcrafted. SIGMA press with patented pressing principle and FLEXIDRAIN® technology for vertical juice extraction. Visit our website for a video of the SIGMA in action. www.scottlab.com t info@scottlab.com