Browsing by Author "Conrad, Esther"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    California’s New Landscape for Groundwater Governance (Water in the West Reports and Working Papers)
    (Stanford University, 2017) Conrad, Esther; Gordon, Beatrice; Moran, Tara; Blomquist, William A.; Martinez, Janet; Szeptycki, Leon
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    Diverse stakeholders create collaborative, multilevel basin governance for groundwater sustainability
    (University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2018-03-13) Conrad, Esther; Moran, Tara; DuPraw, Marcelle E.; Ceppos, David; Martinez, Janet; Blomquist, William; Political Science, School of Liberal Arts
    The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is introducing significant changes in the way groundwater is governed for agricultural use. It requires the formation of groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to manage groundwater basins for sustainability with the engagement of all users. That presents opportunities for collaboration, as well as challenges, particularly in basins with large numbers of agricultural water users who have longstanding private pumping rights. The GSA formation process has resulted in the creation of multiple GSAs in many such basins, particularly in the Central Valley. In case studies of three basins, we examine agricultural stakeholders' concerns about SGMA, and how these are being addressed in collaborative approaches to groundwater basin governance. We find that many water districts and private pumpers share a strong interest in maintaining local autonomy, but they have distinct concerns and different options for forming and participating in GSAs. Multilevel collaborative governance structures may help meet SGMA's requirements for broad stakeholder engagement, our studies suggest, while also addressing concerns about autonomy and including agricultural water users in decision-making.
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    Establishment of agencies for local groundwater governance under California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
    (2018) Milman, Anita; Galindo, Luisa; Blomquist, William; Conrad, Esther
    With the passage of its 'Sustainable Groundwater Management Act' (SGMA), California devolved both authority and responsibility for achieving sustainable groundwater management to the local level, with state-level oversight. The passage of SGMA created a new political situation within each groundwater basin covered by the law, as public agencies were tasked with self-organizing to establish local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs). This research examines GSA formation decisions to determine where GSAs formed, whether they were formed by a single agency or a partnership, and whether agencies chose to pursue sustainable groundwater management by way of a single basin-wide organization or by coordinating across multiple organizational structures. The research then tests hypotheses regarding the relative influence of control over the resource, control over decision making, transaction costs, heterogeneity and institutional bricolage on GSA formation decisions. Results indicate mixed preferences for GSA structure, though a majority of public water agencies preferred to independently form a GSA rather than to partner in forming a GSA. Results also suggest GSA formation decisions are the result of overlapping and interacting concerns about control, heterogeneity, and transaction costs. Future research should examine how GSA formation choices serve to influence achievement of groundwater sustainability at the basin scale.
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    A Flexible Framework or Rigid Doctrine? Assessing the Legacy of the 2000 Mojave Decision for Resolving Disputes Over Groundwater in California
    (2018) Szeptycki, Leon; Conrad, Esther; Blomquist, William; Martinez, Janet
    The string of California Supreme Court cases establishing and elucidating groundwater pumping rights and rules for adjudicating them, culminating in the court's 2000 decision in City of Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency, has produced a framework that is frustratingly rigid and unclear at the same time. Fully litigating the relevant issues under that framework is a potentially time consuming and expensive slog. The rigidity drives up the cost of proving rights and the appropriate formula for allocating water, while the uncertainty creates room for litigious mischief. However, a close look at seven adjudications that have gone to judgment since Mojave shows a more complex and interesting story. In five of those cases, the parties and the courts effectively finessed the property rights rules to reach relatively quick settlements that included creative groundwater management solutions. In two of the seven, however, the Mojave framework produced over a decade of litigation. Both lines of cases hold important lessons for groundwater management generally, and for California as it moves forward in implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014.
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    Putting Adaptive Management into Practice: Incorporating Quantitative Metrics into Sustainable Groundwater Management
    (Stanford University, 2019) Conrad, Esther; Moran, Tara; Crankshaw, Ilana; Blomquist, William; Martinez, Janet; Szeptycki, Leon
    This report uses four cases to examine how agencies have used adaptive mangement and quantitative metrics to set minimum thresholds, measurable objectives and interim milestones to measure groundwater in California. The report offers recommendations for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies as they write their sustainability plans.
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    To Consolidate or Coordinate? Status of the Formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies in California
    (Stanford University, 2016) Conrad, Esther; Martinez, Janet; Moran, Tara; DuPaw, Marcelle; Ceppos, David; Blomquist, William