Posts

Opinion: Legislature Must Remake Water Laws for a Drier California

/in , /by /CalMattersby Walter “Redgie” Collins and Amanda Cooper

California’s water laws are stuck in the past. The Legislature can—indeed, it must—make the changes to state law necessary to address the 21st century’s complex water challenges.

A recent decision by California’s Sixth District Court of Appeal highlights everything that’s wrong with California water law. The ruling blocks the State Water Resources Control Board’s authority to reduce water deliveries to a group of water districts amid California’s ongoing drought.

Full Story

Attempts to Protect Arizona’s Groundwater and Rivers Meet Legislative Resistance

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

The Arizona Legislature has taken up a range of water-related measures this year, but some bills that would strengthen the state’s water rules to protect declining groundwater and desert streams have run into opposition and have failed to move forward.

Republican and Democratic legislators introduced several bills that would establish some groundwater rules in unregulated rural areas where there are no limits on pumping and where water levels are dropping.

Full Story