Valley Ag groups oppose groundwater monitoring

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The drought has forced many Valley farmers to pump a lot more groundwater to irrigate their crops.

Many Valley wells have gone dry this summer with farmers having to drill deeper to reach the water table. But Gov. Jerry Brown could soon sign legislation which regulates groundwater wells.

The walnuts in a Madera County orchard don't develop without irrigation. But like so many other Valley farmers, Frank Roque has been pumping much more groundwater.

Roque said, "We monitor the water we pump. We know exactly how much water we put on our crops. We have a huge financial investment in conserving water."

Roque was joined by politicians and Ag groups on his farm. They called on the governor to veto legislation to monitor groundwater wells.

Republican Assembly leader Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) said, "That had zero input from all the stakeholders you see behind me right now whether it's the Valley delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, whether it's agriculture."

The bills would form new water agencies to develop plans to guard against over-drafting underground aquifers by the year 2020.

Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies said, "We can't allocate the resources based on who's got the deepest well and the deepest pocket. We have to do better than that."

Quinn said the governor will sign the legislation Tuesday morning.

Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) said, "This legislation shreds property based water rights. This places a huge, expensive mandate on privately held water rights."

Quinn said, "We've had a half century of over-drafting our groundwater basins and it's gotten a lot worse in recent years."

The new agency could ultimately restrict groundwater pumping and impose fines.

If Gov. Brown signs the bills it would mark the first time groundwater pumping was regulated by the state.