Groundwater Regulations

Envision yourself, about to complete a straightforward, everyday thing such as washing the dishes, suddenly to your surprise there is no water coming out of the faucet. Well for the civilians of East Porterville this is their reality. California has always had very lenient and ineffective groundwater regulations. Today, this has become a major issue, especially with California's severe drought. The regulation of the aquifer is a necessity because cleanliness is a basic human right and by not regulating the groundwater and leaving civilians with no working water, that right is taken away. The right to bathe, wash your hands, and have a working toilet is simply no more. Furthermore there are scientific statements, proving that excessively pumping groundwater will lower the water levels, which will likely lead to the land level sinking as well.

What do you think would happen if your town ran out of water? In the town of East Porterville they have not had water in 5 months. Life is really bad for them. They can not do basic stuff that involves using water. I do think that California should control phreatic water.

Water rights policies have been an important topic throughout the history of California, as the resource is perpetually

My opinion is that California should not regulate groundwater because of farmers and financially. A Farmer would need more water for their crops, animals , accordingly themselves. That is a large amount of water , I do not think that is fair because what would happen if the farmers ran out of water ;they would have to use other residents water. Farmers would have to buy less pickups,employing less people, moreover buying less tractors.In source 1 it says that “the Farmers feel very disconnected with the

Even though, “‘We are tied to the groundwater 100 percent,’ he said, ‘so ultimately it will have an effect on consumer prices. There's just no getting around that’” (Source1), citizens would be able to obtain water with more ease. "City folks just don't understand that they're biting the hand that feeds them, I'm afraid" (Source1). With laws, farmers will have less access to water, but the citizens will be able to have any access. They might have to pay more for food, but they will be able to get water.

Farmers say that it’s their property and they can do whatever they want, but water under your property isn’t just yours. Farmers argue that it’s their property and their money, so they can buy millions of wells if they want to but they ignore those sayings, “you are drawing water in from beneath your neighbor’s property into your well. So it’s not unlike having several straws in a glass, and everyone drinking at the same time, and no one really watching the level” (source, 3). Nobody is really watching the level of the water, they just care about having enough water for their crops. Neighbor’s that pump water may get angry at you because you are pumping way too much water, they need it just like you!

California has just come out of it’s 5th year of drought. In the last 5 years California has had record high temperatures and record low rain and snow. Even though they say the drought is over our groundwater levels are still down because of overpumping. Overpumping has been happening for 50 to 70 years. To me that is a really long time to overuse our water. Groundwater pumping is taking water from the ground. Most of the people using groundwater are farmers so their crops can grow in dry conditions (drought). Groundwater pumping is taking away from future water reserves which is the water we have to use during a drought. If we keep pumping groundwater out of the ground and don’t put it back in to replace it then it is a very bad use of a very valuable resource. California is lucky that state lawmakers are now beginning to try and regulate how groundwater is monitored and managed. The point of doing this is to try to find a better way to use our valuable resource.Fresh water is one of the basic needs of all living things.California needs to limit the amount of groundwater used by recycling wastewater and

(Source 2). Clearly, regulations need to be put in place to regulate usage of groundwater

In my opinion I believe that the government should regulate groundwater, because some ranchers don’t think so? It is becoming an issue because farmers want to be digging holes in the ground to get water that doesn't belong to them. I think we should supervise water because who wants to take a bath in the river.

How much water do you use on a daily basis? Well, these people are tired of farmers using up all the water because of the fact that when they run out of water, they are unable to take showers and/or use the bathroom. Farmers say that they need way more water to grow the food on their farms. It is obvious to the common person that they should have regulations on water.

Is California becoming a desert? Is it using too much? For the past few years California has been in a severe drought which has gotten the people to become desperate and use groundwater to supply themselves. The Farmers of the state are drilling deeper and deeper to obtain more water since California doesn’t have any laws from stopping them. The citizens want the state government to establish laws to stop the farmers from taking anymore water.

California can meet their water needs by using this precious resource much more efficiently than they are presently doing. California has been raising sustainable awareness by adding bulb-lit freeway signs every 10 miles along California Interstate 5 that say “Serious drought, help save water”, they have also printed placards that are posted in sparsely blooming almond and cherry groves, asparagus fields, and mile upon mile of empty dry cracked or tilled earth that warn people to use less water. As California continues to grow, this puts more pressure on their limited water supplies. California needs to figure out a way to manage their groundwater basins to secure the future of agriculture life.

What is the point of taking the water for the farm to make food if the people in the town need water to live also? California has been in a drought for 4 years now and the farmers are drilling wells and taking all of the water from the town for themselves. I think they should make a law. They prove them because it says that people can not do their laundry or drink water or wash dishes. It says that it affects prices and that it costs farmers a lot of money. You have to beg and pay extra to have them drill wells and they have to buy less stuff to be able to pay people to drill wells. I think we need laws because if they take all of the water there is no use for food because water is actually more important than food because you can die from

Why do they want to regulate water ? We are having a drought in California because there are farmers that are taking a lot more water.I think they shouldn't limit water because it is making living a lot harder in other cities.Consequently,”When it first went dry, we used to drive to my daughter’s house in Visalia about 45 minutes away to have a shower”Source 2. Quotes an East Porterville Man. It was a big transition from having enormous amounts of water to not even being able to take a shower or wash yourself.It’s officially getting crazy.Ordinarily, “We go and we go, but it just seems like we can’t go fast enough”,Source 3, a drill worker speaks. It Explains we need laws because it shows that they are tired of being in this severe drought

Change is coming to California, whether you like it or not. We are in the period of necessity. There are a lot more people than there were 50 years ago and our water system is not prepared for it. This drought is causing a lot of things, and people are not taking it seriously. Sixty percent of water in California is used for irrigation and agriculture, and forty percent is used for the actual people.