Tule Decision Shows Commitment to Protect Community Groundwater
For Immediate Release
September 17, 2024
Contact:
Maraid Jimenez, Community Water Center, (765) 729-1674, maraid.jimenez@communitywatercenter.org
Macy Pereira, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, (559) 213-1903, mpereira@leadershipcounsel.org
Tule Decision Shows Commitment to Protect Community Groundwater
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today the State Water Resources Control Board (SWB) made an important decision reaffirming the commitment to protect groundwater in California through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The SWB designated the Tule Subbasin as a probationary basin. The subbasin is home to low-income communities of color, many who are farmworkers, and have been disproportionately harmed by continuous overpumping of groundwater. The Board’s action today creates a path to protect the Human Right to Water for Tule Subbasin communities who rely on groundwater for their drinking water.
“It is not fair that we pay for water that is undrinkable, especially for our rural communities with a limited income and resources,” says Lucina Hidalgo, AGUA Coalition member from Alpaugh. ”We need to protect our groundwater now and for future generations”
Under the probation process, the SWB has the authority to intervene and ensure groundwater agencies enact needed revisions to their plans. Groundwater agencies will have a year to adequately address plan deficiencies regarding groundwater overdraft, contamination, land subsidence, a lack of meaningful participation from interested parties, poor climate change analysis, and a lack of adequate well mitigation programs to address drinking water outages from groundwater overdraft.
“SGMA is intended to protect all drinking water uses and users, not just a select few," says Nataly Escobedo Garcia, Ph.D., Water Policy Coordinator for Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, “Today’s decision highlights a shift in how we think about our responsibility towards groundwater management emphasizing that protection of frontline communities can no longer be an afterthought.”
Overpumping is the key issue and SGMA was created with an intention to manage groundwater in a way that protects this valuable public resource for all, including communities who rely on groundwater as their only source of drinking water. The long-term planning and guidance for Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) under the SWB allows for a clear path forward to address these needs.
“Delaying the implementation of SGMA with lawsuits and temporary restraining orders will not fix dry and contaminated wells,” says Tien Tran, Senior Policy Advocate at Community Water Center. “San Joaquin Valley communities need clean, safe drinking water now.”
Community Water Center and Leadership Counsel will continue to ensure groundwater plans reflect community needs. The next basin being considered for probation is the Kaweah basin on January 7, 2025.
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Community Water Center (CWC) works to ensure that all communities have reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable water. Founded in 2006, CWC is a not-for-profit environmental justice organization, whose mission is to act as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions through education, organizing, and advocacy.
Web: www.communitywatercenter.org.
Twitter: @CWaterC
Facebook: @CommunityWaterCenter
The AGUA Coalition (la Asociación de Gente Unida por el Agua, or the Association of People United for Water) is a regional, grassroots coalition of impacted community residents and allied non-profit organizations dedicated to securing safe, clean, and affordable drinking water for San Joaquin Valley communities.
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability works alongside the most impacted communities in the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income, and place. Leadership Counsel focuses on issues like housing, land use, transportation, safe and affordable drinking water and climate change impacts on communities. Twitter: LCJandA FB: @lcjacalifornia IG: @leadership_counsel Web: leadershipcounsel.org
