California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill aimed at leveling the playing field for the groundwater adjudication process by requiring the court to consider water use and accessibility for small farmers and disadvantaged communities before entering a judgment.
Assembly Bill (AB) 779, sponsored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-11-Suisun City), defines small farmers as those making between $10,000-400,000 in gross farm sales, and a disadvantaged community as a low-income area that is disproportionately affected by environmental pollution as defined in the state’s Health and Safety Codes.
AB 779 not only asks the court to consider small farmers and disadvantaged communities but instructs the court to appoint one party to forward all decisions and documents to the groundwater sustainability agency. The agency shall post the documents on its website in the interest of transparency.
“This bill is an effort to make the groundwater adjudication process more accessible, efficient, and transparent for all water users, especially small farmers, farmers of color, and historically marginalized groundwater users,” said Wilson in a statement. “AB 779 will help ensure the process produces an equitable and science-based allocation of water rights to support sustainable, long-term use by all water users in a basin.”
The bill was the work of three University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) law students who worked with Wilson and testified in Sacramento seeking to reform existing groundwater rights. In 2014, lawmakers passed three bills to form the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, setting up local agencies in high- and medium-priority basins to prevent the overpumping of groundwater as drought persists and demand grows. The trio and Wilson’s office also worked with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, who said the adjudication process can be lengthy and expensive.
Adrianne Davies, one of the law students, pointed to a case involving the Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin that lasted over 15 years and involved 75,000 parties and 9,000 docket entries as an example of the process not having equity for all communities.
The adjudication process is currently taking place in the Cuyama Valley, located southwest of Bakersfield in northern Santa Barbara County. Cuyama Valley is one of California’s 21 overpumped or “critically overdrafted” basins. The valley is a significant carrot-producing region, with Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms growing a majority of the crop in the region.
The two companies filed suit in 2021 over groundwater rights and priorities of all parties using the system, including valley residents. According to the Associated Press (AP), the lawsuit resulted in a call for a boycott of the two companies. Signs have been erected over the area, reading “Stand with Cuyama.”
According to the UCLA Law blog and AP, the lawsuit has affected everyone in the region and has created a financial burden due to the need to hire legal counsel.
“We all have to retain lawyers,” said Robbie Jaffe, co-owner of Condor’s Hope, a small farm in the valley. “This includes the small community water distributor in New Cuyama as well as the rural school district. None of us can afford this. Folks can’t afford to stay in the fight.”
Grimmway told the Bakersfield Californian by filing the adjudication, the parties believe “it will not only ensure sustainability of the basin but also protect the groundwater rights of all water users, including small pumpers and the Cuyama Community Services District, in accordance with California law.”
A hearing on the case is scheduled for January. AB 779 would apply only to basins where a comprehensive adjudication has not commenced by Jan. 1, 2024. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
