The Importance Of Drought Laws In California

Introduction In January of 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency after the drought led to the driest year in California history. Local government agencies sprung into action, calling for a twenty percent decrease in statewide water usage. Californians across the state were subjected to laws and regulations put in place to manage drought conditions. Farmers, especially, experienced hardship as groundwater and surface water supplies were cut off due to shortages. However, even with the new additions to legislation, many of California’s water laws are no longer applicable- because they do not fully address the severity of the drought, are not implemented appropriately or inadequately deal with water resources. With California going into it’s fifth year of drought, new laws to improve water usage and regulation are essential for the wellbeing of the state.
Modern Laws and Regulations As reported by the 2015 Irrigation Association Drought Relief Summit, California’s water usage is split as so: agriculture uses 41%, urban settings use 10%, instream flow 8%, required delta outflow 7%, managed wetlands 2%, and wild and scenic rivers 32% (Farner). As shown, agriculture is
In Idaho for instance, the state successfully manages surface and groundwater levels while balancing the amount of water returning to the ground (Farner). They do this through the Idaho Ground Water Act, which categorized aquifers by size and usage and has a committee approve water withdrawals (“Ground Water Management…”). Idaho also has a Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, which provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers (ibid). While there are obvious limitations to enacting Idaho’s tactics to California, such as the differences in population or economy, their policies can still be