This is the description of the groundwater situation from Professor Richard Howitt, the lead author of a recent study put out by the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. It is estimated that two-thirds of the state's water supply will be pumped from wells in 2014, as in previous dry years.
I know that people are seeing well water levels drop in the Sacramento Valley. This ‘overdraft' (pumping more out of the aquifer than is being recharged) is clearly not sustainable on a year-in, year-out basis. Even though groundwater and the regulations that may eventually accompany its use make for thorny conversation, it is a conversation that is happening, and one that we all need to engage in (as politely as we can).
Most of the farmers I know are forward-looking problem-solvers. For that reason, I want to point your attention to an overview of the groundwater situation, some policy efforts that are currently afoot, and the role that agriculture might play in groundwater recharge/banking. These are summarized in a recent California Agriculture article by University of California scientists Thomas Harter and Helen Dahlke. The article is available here: