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95-581: This regulatory program has had the status of an official government department since the 1950s. The State Water Pollution Control Board, as well as 9 regional boards, were established by the Dickey Water Pollution Act of 1949. The board was renamed to the State Water Quality Control Board by an Act of 1963. The State Water Resources Control Board was established from the State Water Quality Control Board and

190-407: A body of water from diffuse sources such as runoff from storm water, which may contain road dirt or fertilizers and pesticides from lawns, as well as water that collects debris from construction sites and fecal matter from barnyards and flows into nearby rivers, streams and lakes.) The DFA has allocated about 4 billion dollars for the construction of sewage treatment plants in communities throughout

285-646: A coastal community. The City of Del Mar created their Clean Water Program for the purpose of protecting their natural resources such as lagoons, beaches and the Pacific Ocean from urban runoff . They have pollution from dumpsters, improperly stored hazardous materials and equipment so their staff goes out into the community and inspects construction areas, and educates the public of the situation. The public can call or email if they see urban runoff events taking place such as over irrigation, water being used to clean driveways, and building materials or dirt coming off

380-408: A drop in the ground surface. In unconsolidated aquifers, groundwater is produced from pore spaces between particles of gravel, sand, and silt. If the aquifer is confined by low-permeability layers, the reduced water pressure in the sand and gravel causes slow drainage of water from the adjoining confining layers. If these confining layers are composed of compressible silt or clay, the loss of water to

475-601: A first-of-its-kind Performance Report in 2009 describing the performance of the State and Regional Water Boards in protecting California's waters through implementation of existing water quality and water rights laws. Along with the Performance Report, the Water Boards led the State's Water Quality Monitoring Council's effort to launch a coordinated, statewide web portal named "My water quality" that communicates

570-402: A former lake bed, has experienced rates of subsidence of up to 40 centimetres (1 foot 4 inches) per year. For coastal cities, subsidence can increase the risk of other environmental issues, such as sea level rise . For example, Bangkok is expected to have 5.138 million people exposed to coastal flooding by 2070 because of these combining factors. If the surface water source

665-482: A fund to help underground storage tank owners and operators pay for the costs of cleaning up leaking underground storage tanks. The State Water Board coordinates the state's nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Water Boards), which serve as the frontline for state and federal water pollution control efforts. Together, the State Water Board and the nine Regional Water Boards are referred to as

760-1076: A global level, although priority chemicals will vary by country. There is a lot of heterogeneity of hydrogeologic properties. For this reason, salinity of groundwater is often highly variable over space. This contributes to highly variable groundwater security risks even within a specific region. Salinity in groundwater makes the water unpalatable and unusable and often occurs in coastal areas, for example in Bangladesh and East and West Africa. Municipal and industrial water supplies are provided through large wells. Multiple wells for one water supply source are termed "wellfields", which may withdraw water from confined or unconfined aquifers. Using groundwater from deep, confined aquifers provides more protection from surface water contamination. Some wells, termed "collector wells", are specifically designed to induce infiltration of surface (usually river) water. Aquifers that provide sustainable fresh groundwater to urban areas and for agricultural irrigation are typically close to

855-408: A home and then returned to the ground in another well. During cold seasons, because it is relatively warm, the water can be used in the same way as a source of heat for heat pumps that is much more efficient than using air. Groundwater makes up about thirty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.76% of the entire world's water, including oceans and permanent ice. About 99% of

950-519: A long time without severe consequences. Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of seepage above a groundwater source is the upper bound for average consumption of water from that source. Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation , streams , and rivers when this recharge reaches the water table. Groundwater can be a long-term ' reservoir ' of the natural water cycle (with residence times from days to millennia), as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like

1045-722: A permanently reduced capacity to hold water. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is actually below sea level today, and its subsidence is partly caused by removal of groundwater from the various aquifer/aquitard systems beneath it. In the first half of the 20th century, the San Joaquin Valley experienced significant subsidence , in some places up to 8.5 metres (28 feet) due to groundwater removal. Cities on river deltas, including Venice in Italy, and Bangkok in Thailand, have experienced surface subsidence; Mexico City, built on

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1140-399: Is a highly useful and often abundant resource. Most land areas on Earth have some form of aquifer underlying them, sometimes at significant depths. In some cases, these aquifers are rapidly being depleted by the human population. Such over-use, over-abstraction or overdraft can cause major problems to human users and to the environment. The most evident problem (as far as human groundwater use

1235-528: Is also often withdrawn for agricultural , municipal , and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells . The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology , also called groundwater hydrology . Typically, groundwater is thought of as water flowing through shallow aquifers, but, in the technical sense, it can also contain soil moisture , permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock , and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater

1330-466: Is also subject to substantial evaporation, a groundwater source may become saline . This situation can occur naturally under endorheic bodies of water, or artificially under irrigated farmland. In coastal areas, human use of a groundwater source may cause the direction of seepage to ocean to reverse which can also cause soil salinization . As water moves through the landscape, it collects soluble salts, mainly sodium chloride . Where such water enters

1425-632: Is an additional water source that was not used previously. First, flood mitigation schemes, intended to protect infrastructure built on floodplains, have had the unintended consequence of reducing aquifer recharge associated with natural flooding. Second, prolonged depletion of groundwater in extensive aquifers can result in land subsidence , with associated infrastructure damage – as well as, third, saline intrusion . Fourth, draining acid sulphate soils, often found in low-lying coastal plains, can result in acidification and pollution of formerly freshwater and estuarine streams. Groundwater

1520-592: Is clean water act of California that expanded the enforcement authority of the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 Regional Water Quality Control Boards. The act provided for the California Environmental Protection Agency to create the local boards and better protect water rights and water quality. The Porter-Cologne Act (California Water Code, Section 7) was created in 1969 and is

1615-417: Is concerned) is a lowering of the water table beyond the reach of existing wells. As a consequence, wells must be drilled deeper to reach the groundwater; in some places (e.g., California , Texas , and India ) the water table has dropped hundreds of feet because of extensive well pumping. The GRACE satellites have collected data that demonstrates 21 of Earth's 37 major aquifers are undergoing depletion. In

1710-412: Is fresh water located in the subsurface pore space of soil and rocks . It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table . Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between groundwater that is closely associated with surface water , and deep groundwater in an aquifer (called " fossil water " if it infiltrated into the ground millennia ago ). Groundwater can be thought of in

1805-427: Is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults . It is likely that much of Earth 's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances. Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water . Therefore, it is commonly used for public drinking water supplies. For example, groundwater provides

1900-545: Is less visible and more difficult to clean up than pollution in rivers and lakes. Groundwater pollution most often results from improper disposal of wastes on land. Major sources include industrial and household chemicals and garbage landfills , excessive fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture, industrial waste lagoons, tailings and process wastewater from mines, industrial fracking , oil field brine pits, leaking underground oil storage tanks and pipelines, sewage sludge and septic systems . Additionally, groundwater

1995-468: Is rapidly increasing with population growth, while climate change is imposing additional stress on water resources and raising the probability of severe drought occurrence. The anthropogenic effects on groundwater resources are mainly due to groundwater pumping and the indirect effects of irrigation and land use changes. Groundwater plays a central role in sustaining water supplies and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa . In some cases, groundwater

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2090-551: Is recognized as one of the nation's strongest pieces of anti-pollution legislation, and was so influential that Congressional authors used sections of the Act as the basis for the Federal Clean Water Act . The late SWRCB chairman, Don Maughan, wrote: The State Water Board has never had the luxury of advocating protection of just one water need, such as the environment or agriculture or that of large cities. Our charge

2185-533: Is set up to improve the water quality in their local creeks, rivers and oceans and to keep in accordance with the state and regional environmental regulations. The program focuses on education the community, specifically the developers, residents, industrial and commercial companies and the academia about pollution and how they can prevent it from happening. They monitor the water quality, inspect construction sites and perform educational outreaches to their community because they are susceptible to stormwater pollution being

2280-560: Is susceptible to saltwater intrusion in coastal areas and can cause land subsidence when extracted unsustainably, leading to sinking cities (like Bangkok ) and loss in elevation (such as the multiple meters lost in the Central Valley of California ). These issues are made more complicated by sea level rise and other effects of climate change , particularly those on the water cycle . Earth's axial tilt has shifted 31 inches because of human groundwater pumping. Groundwater

2375-726: Is the Board Chair. Esquivel was born and raised in California's Coachella Valley, the son of educators and grandson of farm workers. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from U.C. Santa Barbara . He worked for eight and a half years in the Washington D. C. office of California's U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer . He started as an intern, leaving as Senator Boxer's Legislative Assistant. His portfolios for Senator Boxer covered agriculture, Native Americans, water, oceans, and nutrition. He

2470-400: Is the most accessed source of freshwater around the world, including as drinking water , irrigation , and manufacturing . Groundwater accounts for about half of the world's drinking water, 40% of its irrigation water, and a third of water for industrial purposes. Another estimate stated that globally groundwater accounts for about one third of all water withdrawals , and surface water for

2565-558: Is to balance all water needs of the state. Some call it a superhuman task, but through the years this Board, aided by its excellent staff, has done what I call a superhuman job of accomplishing that mandate despite the intensive historical, political, and economic pressures that always accompany California water issues. The State Water Board oversees the allocation of the state's water resources to various entities and for diverse uses, from agricultural irrigation to hydro electrical power generation to municipal water supplies, and for safeguarding

2660-456: Is used for irrigation. Occasionally, sedimentary or "fossil" aquifers are used to provide irrigation and drinking water to urban areas. In Libya, for example, Muammar Gaddafi's Great Manmade River project has pumped large amounts of groundwater from aquifers beneath the Sahara to populous areas near the coast. Though this has saved Libya money over the alternative, seawater desalination,

2755-770: The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Clean Water Act , the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, timber production zones, wastewater discharge permits and any other permit necessary for diverting water. Although agricultural runoff is the largest source of pollution in the Central Valley, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act was not implemented by the Central Valley Regional Board back in 1982. Public interest groups have challenged that ruling stating that

2850-585: The Punjab region of India , for example, groundwater levels have dropped 10 meters since 1979, and the rate of depletion is accelerating. A lowered water table may, in turn, cause other problems such as groundwater-related subsidence and saltwater intrusion . Another cause for concern is that groundwater drawdown from over-allocated aquifers has the potential to cause severe damage to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems – in some cases very conspicuously but in others quite imperceptibly because of

2945-442: The hydraulic pressure of groundwater in the pore spaces of the aquifer and the aquitard supports some of the weight of the overlying sediments. When groundwater is removed from aquifers by excessive pumping, pore pressures in the aquifer drop and compression of the aquifer may occur. This compression may be partially recoverable if pressures rebound, but much of it is not. When the aquifer gets compressed, it may cause land subsidence,

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3040-405: The vadose zone below plant roots and is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface. Groundwater recharge also encompasses water moving away from the water table farther into the saturated zone. Recharge occurs both naturally (through the water cycle ) and through anthropogenic processes (i.e., "artificial groundwater recharge"), where rainwater and/or reclaimed water is routed to

3135-629: The California Water Boards. The Water Quality Division of the State Water Board develops statewide water protection plans and establishes water quality standards like the California Bays and Estuaries Policy . The Division has two branches: a surface water branch and a groundwater branch. The surface water branch focuses on monitoring and regulating storm water discharges and wastewater (sewage) treatment. It also monitors surface water quality, oversees protection of wetlands and

3230-691: The Dickey Water Pollution Act and have been responsible for protecting the surface, ground and coastal waters of their regions since then. In adopting the Dickey Act the Legislature was acknowledging that California's water pollution problems are regional, and are affected by rain and snowfall, the configuration of the land, and population density, as well as recreational, agricultural, urban and industrial development, all of which vary from region to region. The Regional Water Boards develop basin plans for their natural geographic characteristics that affect

3325-626: The Division of Water Rights, overseeing administration of water right change petitions, licensing, and cannabis cultivation permitting. From 2003 to 2015, Maguire worked for an engineering consulting firm. He was appointed in 2018. Laurel Firestone is a co-founder of the Community Water Center, a statewide nonprofit. She served on the Tulare County Water Commission from 2007 to 2012, and was appointed to

3420-472: The Regional Board has the authority to give out permits for the purpose of waste disposal or waste assimilation. However, the discharges of waste into the water is not a right and is up to the discretion of the Regional Board. They have the authority to authorize when the discharge is to take place, for how long, and how much waste can be put into the water. Although the regions have plans that assure

3515-589: The Regional Water Boards have the authority to enforce these objectives. Along with the Regional Water Boards, the State Water Resources Board can issue and enforce permits containing waste discharge requirements in order to maintain clean surface water and groundwater. There is a water quality control plan for enclosed bays and estuaries whose objective is to protect the benthic community from direct exposure to pollutants in

3610-740: The SWRCB's alleged failure to protect these communities against pollutants in water systems. Tribal nations and minority groups have also accused the California State Water Resources Control Board of exclusion from public participation and policy-making. In March, Latino community members from the Central Coast filed a racial discrimination complaint over disparate levels of nitrate being found in groundwater serving Latino residencies. The nine semi-autonomous Regional Water Boards were created in 1949 by

3705-520: The State Water Board or a court. In several basins, however, groundwater use is regulated in accordance with court decrees. Further, in Ventura , Los Angeles , San Bernardino , and Riverside counties, groundwater pumpers are required to report their groundwater extraction amounts to either the State Water Board or a local groundwater management agency. The State Water Board and the Regional Water Boards are responsible for swift and fair enforcement when

3800-773: The State Water Board. Under the Federal Clean Water Act and the state's pioneering Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act the State Water Board has regulatory authority for protecting the water quality of nearly 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km) of lakes, 1,300,000 acres (5,300 km) of bays and estuaries, 211,000 miles (340,000 km) of rivers and streams, and about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of exquisite California coastline. The State Water Board also provides financial assistance to local governments and non-profit agencies to help build or rejuvenate wastewater treatment plants, and protect, restore and monitor water quality, wetlands, and estuaries. It also administers

3895-932: The State Water Board. The California State Water Resources Control Board oversees approximately 7,400 water systems. Each year, the SWRCB documents harmful health-based violations in approximately 7% of their community water systems. In their 2024 Drinking Water Needs Assessment, the State Water Board’s failing criteria identified 385 failing public water systems. Under their criteria, these water systems failed to meet safe standards either on groundwater contamination, outdated regulatory compliance, technical capacity, financial magnitude, or managerial scope. These public water systems provide drinking water to more than 900,000 California residents. A 2019 report found cancer-causing contaminants such as 1,2,3-TCP in roughly 495 public water systems in California. A 2023 public health journal found that groundwater and small water systems contain

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3990-744: The State Water Resources Control Board in March 2017. As of June, 30 2021 Dorene D'Adamo is the board Vice Chair. D'Adamo was appointed to the board by Governor Brown in 2013. She previously served on the California Air Resources Board from 1999 to 2013 under the Brown, Schwarzenegger and Davis Administrations, where she was instrumental in the board's air quality and climate change programs and regulations. Sean Maguire previously worked as manager in

4085-557: The State Water Rights Board by an Act of 1967. California's pioneering clean water act is the 1969 Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Porter-Cologne Act). Through the Porter-Cologne Act, the State Water Board and the Regional Water Boards have been entrusted with broad duties and powers to preserve and enhance all beneficial uses of the state's immensely complex waterscape. The Porter-Cologne Act

4180-542: The action taken by the Board was based on the unsupported assumption that toxic discharge from agriculture did not pose a threat to the environment or the public, and with the assumption that farmers would self-regulate. Groundwater This is an accepted version of this page Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth 's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations . About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in

4275-462: The actual quality of California's waters. These tools are being continuously improved and will soon describe actual targets for environmental improvement over the coming years. In 2014, during the drought , 28 small California communities cycled onto and off of a list of "critical water systems" that the Board had determined could run dry within 60 days. Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act

4370-551: The adoption of water quality control plans that contain the guiding policies of water pollution management in California. The act uses the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for point source discharges and waste discharge requirements (WDRs) in order to keep people from degrading the water quality of the State. The policy states: The State Water Resources Control Board provides guidance and oversight over

4465-425: The adoption of water quality control plans that give direction to managing water pollution in California. Usually, basin plans get adopted by the Regional Water Boards and are updated when needed. The plans incorporate the beneficial uses of the waters of the State and then provide objectives that should be met in order to maintain and protect these uses. They can meet these objectives by surveillance and monitoring, and

4560-561: The age of groundwater obtained from different parts of the Great Artesian Basin, hydrogeologists have found it increases in age across the basin. Where water recharges the aquifers along the Eastern Divide , ages are young. As groundwater flows westward across the continent, it increases in age, with the oldest groundwater occurring in the western parts. This means that in order to have travelled almost 1000 km from

4655-405: The aquifer reduces the water pressure in the confining layer, causing it to compress from the weight of overlying geologic materials. In severe cases, this compression can be observed on the ground surface as subsidence . Unfortunately, much of the subsidence from groundwater extraction is permanent (elastic rebound is small). Thus, the subsidence is not only permanent, but the compressed aquifer has

4750-525: The aquifers are likely to run dry in 60 to 100 years. Groundwater provides critical freshwater supply, particularly in dry regions where surface water availability is limited. Globally, more than one-third of the water used originates from underground. In the mid-latitude arid and semi-arid regions lacking sufficient surface water supply from rivers and reservoirs, groundwater is critical for sustaining global ecology and meeting societal needs of drinking water and food production. The demand for groundwater

4845-598: The atmosphere and fresh surface water (which have residence times from minutes to years). Deep groundwater (which is quite distant from the surface recharge) can take a very long time to complete its natural cycle. The Great Artesian Basin in central and eastern Australia is one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the world, extending for almost 2 million km . By analysing the trace elements in water sourced from deep underground, hydrogeologists have been able to determine that water extracted from these aquifers can be more than 1 million years old. By comparing

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4940-510: The atmosphere through evapotranspiration , these salts are left behind. In irrigation districts, poor drainage of soils and surface aquifers can result in water tables' coming to the surface in low-lying areas. Major land degradation problems of soil salinity and waterlogging result, combined with increasing levels of salt in surface waters. As a consequence, major damage has occurred to local economies and environments. Aquifers in surface irrigated areas in semi-arid zones with reuse of

5035-699: The board in February 2019. Nichole Morgan served as an Assistant Deputy Director in the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Financial Assistance. She worked in various capacities on the staff of the board, starting in 2009, and was appointed as the board's Civil Engineer in June, 2021. In July 2014, the California Department of Public Health passed down administration of the state’s Drinking Water Program to

5130-485: The cleanliness and purity of Californians' water for everything from bubble baths to trout streams to ocean beaches. The State Water Board is separate from and has different responsibilities than the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), which manages state-owned water infrastructure, such as dams, reservoirs and aqueducts. DWR, like any other water user, must apply for water rights permits from

5225-1046: The commonly found contaminants uranium, arsenic, and nitrate; which if consumed in larger quantities than outlined in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria, pose health detriments. Water system failures, health-based violations, and increased non-compliance are most commonly found in low-income, communities of color. A state auditor's report identified over two thirds of California's defected water systems in economically challenged districts. Research finds that marginalized groups such as Hispanics, Asian Americans, African-Americans and individuals residing in California Tribal Nations have increased chance of being exposed to unsafe and unregulated drinking water. The San Joaquin Valley for example hosts one third of California's failing water systems, and supplies water to one third of

5320-467: The community that the state is working to maintain clean and safe surface and groundwater, there are cities that have taken it upon themselves to implement clean water programs. The California Department of Public Health had a Drinking Water Program that was transferred to the State Water Resources Control Board. The idea of safe drinking water is the basis for the cities implementing their own clean water programs. For example, Oceanside Clean Water Program

5415-491: The current population growth rate. Global groundwater depletion has been calculated to be between 100 and 300 km per year. This depletion is mainly caused by "expansion of irrigated agriculture in drylands ". The Asia-Pacific region is the largest groundwater abstractor in the world, containing seven out of the ten countries that extract most groundwater (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey). These countries alone account for roughly 60% of

5510-404: The extended period over which the damage occurs. The importance of groundwater to ecosystems is often overlooked, even by freshwater biologists and ecologists. Groundwaters sustain rivers, wetlands , and lakes , as well as subterranean ecosystems within karst or alluvial aquifers. Not all ecosystems need groundwater, of course. Some terrestrial ecosystems – for example, those of

5605-407: The extent, depth and thickness of water-bearing sediments and rocks. Before an investment is made in production wells, test wells may be drilled to measure the depths at which water is encountered and collect samples of soils, rock and water for laboratory analyses. Pumping tests can be performed in test wells to determine flow characteristics of the aquifer. The characteristics of aquifers vary with

5700-405: The federal government. For the purpose of administering water rights, California categorizes groundwater as either a subterranean stream flowing through a known and definite channel or percolating groundwater. Groundwater that is a subterranean stream is subject to the same water right permitting requirements as surface water. California has no statewide water right permit process for regulating

5795-504: The form of grants and ultra-low interest zero and one-percent loans for projects that include wastewater treatment plant construction, upgrade and infrastructure improvements as well as "green" projects such as wastewater recycling . Under the 2009 stimulus program, the State Water Board handled $ 270.5 million in addition to more than $ 300 million normally loaned by the SRF each year. State Water Board members are appointed to four-year terms by

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5890-472: The geology and structure of the substrate and topography in which they occur. In general, the more productive aquifers occur in sedimentary geologic formations. By comparison, weathered and fractured crystalline rocks yield smaller quantities of groundwater in many environments. Unconsolidated to poorly cemented alluvial materials that have accumulated as valley -filling sediments in major river valleys and geologically subsiding structural basins are included among

5985-404: The globe includes canals redirecting surface water, groundwater pumping, and diverting water from dams. Aquifers are critically important in agriculture. Deep aquifers in arid areas have long been water sources for irrigation. A majority of extracted groundwater, 70%, is used for agricultural purposes. In India, 65% of the irrigation is from groundwater and about 90% of extracted groundwater

6080-618: The goal of creating an enforcement system that addresses water quality problems in the most efficient, effective, and consistent manner. The State Water Board's Division of Financial Assistance (DFA) has a number of programs designed to help local agencies and individuals prevent or clean up water pollution. The DFA provides loans and grants for constructing municipal sewage and water recycling facilities, remediation for underground storage tank releases, watershed protection projects, and for nonpoint source pollution control projects. (Nonpoint source pollution usually involves contaminants flowing into

6175-516: The governor and are confirmed by the State Senate. Each salaried member fills a different specialty position. These represent engineering expertise, water quality expertise, public interest, and water supply. As of June 30, 2021 the members are E. Joaquin Esquivel (chair), Dorene D'Adamo (Vice Chair), Sean Maguire, Laurel Firestone, and Nichole Morgan. As of June 30, 2021 E. Joaquin Esquivel

6270-416: The ground surface (within a couple of hundred metres) and have some recharge by fresh water. This recharge is typically from rivers or meteoric water (precipitation) that percolates into the aquifer through overlying unsaturated materials. In general, the irrigation of 20% of farming land (with various types of water sources) accounts for the production of 40% of food production. Irrigation techniques across

6365-589: The land, and their growing resulted in discharges of highly erodible sediment and the unauthorized placement of filling a tributary. Both of which violates the Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. The California Control, Regulate, And Tax Cannabis Act of 2016 (ReformCA) allows for protocols to be implemented to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations applicable to cultivating cannabis. This act also incorporates environmental impacts, water quality and supply in accordance with

6460-699: The largest source of usable water storage in the United States , and California annually withdraws the largest amount of groundwater of all the states. Underground reservoirs contain far more water than the capacity of all surface reservoirs and lakes in the US, including the Great Lakes . Many municipal water supplies are derived solely from groundwater. Over 2 billion people rely on it as their primary water source worldwide. Human use of groundwater causes environmental problems. For example, polluted groundwater

6555-475: The law that governs water quality regulation in California. The legislation bears the names of legislators Carley V. Porter and Gordon Cologne . It was established to be a program to protect water quality as well as beneficial uses of water. This act applies to surface water , groundwater , wetlands and both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. There are nine regional water boards and one state water board that have resulted from this act. The act requires

6650-610: The laws and regulations protecting California's waterways are violated. The State Water Board's Office of Enforcement assists and coordinates enforcement activities statewide. Enforcement serves many purposes. First and foremost, it assists in protecting the beneficial uses of waters of the State. Swift and firm enforcement can prevent pollution from occurring and can promote prompt cleanup and correction of existing pollution problems. Enforcement ensures compliance with requirements in State Water Board and Regional Water Board regulations, plans, policies, and orders. Enforcement not only protects

6745-518: The local hydrogeology , may draw in non-potable water or saltwater intrusion from hydraulically connected aquifers or surface water bodies. This can be a serious problem, especially in coastal areas and other areas where aquifer pumping is excessive. Subsidence occurs when too much water is pumped out from underground, deflating the space below the above-surface, and thus causing the ground to collapse. The result can look like craters on plots of land. This occurs because, in its natural equilibrium state,

6840-412: The most productive sources of groundwater. Fluid flows can be altered in different lithological settings by brittle deformation of rocks in fault zones ; the mechanisms by which this occurs are the subject of fault zone hydrogeology . Reliance on groundwater will only increase, mainly due to growing water demand by all sectors combined with increasing variation in rainfall patterns . Groundwater

6935-469: The nine regional water boards which oversee areas based on hydrological barriers. They are also responsible for allocating funds and reviewing the regions' decisions in order to make sure that water quality in the State isn't becoming degraded. The regional water boards are charged with implementing the law's provisions and have primary responsibility for protecting water quality in California. The regional water boards include: The Porter-Cologne Act requires

7030-417: The ocean, is active in environmental education and environmental justice issues, identifies and oversees clean-up of contaminated sites, and promotes low-impact development (LID). The groundwater branch provides statewide guidance and oversight for discharges to land and cleanup of sites with contaminated groundwater. The Water Rights Division of the State Water Board allocates surface water rights based on

7125-671: The open deserts and similar arid environments – exist on irregular rainfall and the moisture it delivers to the soil, supplemented by moisture in the air. While there are other terrestrial ecosystems in more hospitable environments where groundwater plays no central role, groundwater is in fact fundamental to many of the world's major ecosystems. Water flows between groundwaters and surface waters. Most rivers, lakes, and wetlands are fed by, and (at other places or times) feed groundwater, to varying degrees. Groundwater feeds soil moisture through percolation, and many terrestrial vegetation communities depend directly on either groundwater or

7220-470: The other two thirds. Groundwater provides drinking water to at least 50% of the global population. About 2.5 billion people depend solely on groundwater resources to satisfy their basic daily water needs. A similar estimate was published in 2021 which stated that "groundwater is estimated to supply between a quarter and a third of the world's annual freshwater withdrawals to meet agricultural, industrial and domestic demands." Global freshwater withdrawal

7315-503: The overland flow of water in their area, govern requirements for and issue waste discharge permits, take enforcement action against dischargers who violate permits or otherwise harm water quality in surface waters, and monitor water quality. The Regional Water Boards are unusual in this state because their boundaries follow natural mountain chains and ridges that define watersheds rather than political boundaries. The 9 Regional Water Quality Control Boards are the: The Water Boards released

7410-439: The past, present, and future. These basin plans also all have objectives for which the plan clearly states steps that are being taken or will be taken in order to meet the objectives. These objectives are created for the purpose of keeping the water clean and safe to use beneficially. The law is based in the idea that surface and groundwater should be protected against the adverse effects of waste and other contaminants. Accordingly,

7505-683: The percolated soil moisture above the aquifer for at least part of each year. Hyporheic zones (the mixing zone of streamwater and groundwater) and riparian zones are examples of ecotones largely or totally dependent on groundwater. A 2021 study found that of ~39 million investigated groundwater wells 6-20% are at high risk of running dry if local groundwater levels decline by a few meters, or – as with many areas and possibly more than half of major aquifers  – continue to decline. Fresh-water aquifers, especially those with limited recharge by snow or rain, also known as meteoric water , can be over-exploited and depending on

7600-434: The property of construction sites. Instead of cannabis farms being shut down by law enforcement, in recent years they have been getting hit by fines from the State for not having the required permits to discharge. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board gave a huge fine for water quality violations against a property owner in rural California. The owners failed to get the necessary permits prior to developing

7695-566: The public health and the environment, but also creates an "even playing field," ensuring that dischargers who comply with the law are not placed at a competitive disadvantage by those who do not. It also deters potential violators and, thus, further protects the environment. Monetary remedies provide a measure of compensation for the damage that pollution causes to the environment and ensure that polluters do not gain an economic advantage from violations of water quality laws. In 2017, The State Water Board revised its water quality enforcement policy with

7790-423: The same terms as surface water : inputs, outputs and storage. The natural input to groundwater is seepage from surface water. The natural outputs from groundwater are springs and seepage to the oceans. Due to its slow rate of turnover, groundwater storage is generally much larger (in volume) compared to inputs than it is for surface water. This difference makes it easy for humans to use groundwater unsustainably for

7885-436: The sediment. It also seeks to minimize the human health risk due to the consumption of shellfish and fish that may have high levels of toxic contaminants in them. The plan also includes the beneficial uses, their objectives and how these objectives will continue to enhance the water quality. Each region has their own water quality control plan (basin plan) that identifies the specific beneficial uses of water in their region for

7980-416: The source of recharge in 1 million years, the groundwater flowing through the Great Artesian Basin travels at an average rate of about 1 metre per year. Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer . This process usually occurs in

8075-628: The state through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. Also, a billion and a half dollars in bond funds have gone to communities for water quality protection, including water quality planning, treatment of storm water and clean beaches since 2000. DFA also administers the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRI) funds through the State Revolving Fund. The money awarded is in

8170-818: The state's extremely complex system of water rights laws, and assists Board members in exercising the Board's judicial power in water rights disputes. The State Water Board is solely responsible for issuing permits for water rights, specifying amounts, conditions, and construction timetables for diversion and storage. Decisions about water rights are based on such factors as water availability, historical water rights, and flows needed to preserve in-stream uses, such as recreation and fish habitat. California recognizes several different types of rights to take and use surface water. Some water rights can only be held by government. These include pueblo rights, which can only be held by municipalities that were originally Mexican or Spanish pueblos, and federal reserved rights, which can only be held by

8265-657: The state's residents with high poverty rates. Federally recognized Tribal water systems included in the SWRCB' SAFER Drinking Program face data insufficiency for at-risk water system assessment. In September 2022, the California State Water Resources Control Board added Assembly Bill 2108 to their Water Code to help eliminate these disparities. The bill's goals are equitable and reinforced measures for Tribal nations and low-resourced communities affected by disproportionate water quality violations. However, Tribal nations, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans have filed racial discrimination complaints and expressed public dissent over

8360-497: The subsurface. The high specific heat capacity of water and the insulating effect of soil and rock can mitigate the effects of climate and maintain groundwater at a relatively steady temperature . In some places where groundwater temperatures are maintained by this effect at about 10 °C (50 °F), groundwater can be used for controlling the temperature inside structures at the surface. For example, during hot weather relatively cool groundwater can be pumped through radiators in

8455-408: The unavoidable irrigation water losses percolating down into the underground by supplemental irrigation from wells run the risk of salination . Surface irrigation water normally contains salts in the order of 0.5 g/L or more and the annual irrigation requirement is in the order of 10,000 m /ha or more so the annual import of salt is in the order of 5,000 kg/ha or more. Under

8550-499: The use of percolating groundwater. A subterranean stream meets the following four characteristics: (1) A subsurface channel must be present; (2) The channel must have relatively impermeable bed and banks; (3) The course of the channel must be known or capable of being determined by reasonable inference; and (4) Groundwater must be flowing in the channel. In most areas of the state, landowners whose property overlies percolating groundwater may pump it for beneficial use without approval from

8645-441: The world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table . Groundwater is recharged from the surface; it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps , and can form oases or wetlands . Groundwater

8740-519: The world's liquid fresh water is groundwater. Global groundwater storage is roughly equal to the total amount of freshwater stored in the snow and ice pack, including the north and south poles. This makes it an important resource that can act as a natural storage that can buffer against shortages of surface water , as in during times of drought . The volume of groundwater in an aquifer can be estimated by measuring water levels in local wells and by examining geologic records from well-drilling to determine

8835-420: The world's total groundwater withdrawal. Groundwater may or may not be a safe water source. In fact, there is considerable uncertainty with groundwater in different hydrogeologic contexts: the widespread presence of contaminants such as arsenic , fluoride and salinity can reduce the suitability of groundwater as a drinking water source. Arsenic and fluoride have been considered as priority contaminants at

8930-695: Was also Director of Information and Technology. In July 2015 he was appointed to the California Natural Resources Agency where he also served in the Washington D. C. office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. as Assistant Secretary for Federal Water Policy. There, he co-ordinated the interests of that agency and its departments with those of the Governor's Office, the California Congressional delegation and federal stakeholder agencies. Governor Brown appointed him to

9025-402: Was probably around 600 km per year in 1900 and increased to 3,880 km per year in 2017. The rate of increase was especially high (around 3% per year) during the period 1950–1980, partly due to a higher population growth rate, and partly to rapidly increasing groundwater development, particularly for irrigation. The rate of increase is (as per 2022) approximately 1% per year, in tune with

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