Groundwater Regulation and Climate Pressures in California Water Law

Elizabeth Ewens
Partner, Environmental, Land Use & Natural Resources – Water Resources

Abstract

Elizabeth Ewens, Partner in the Environmental, Land Use & Natural Resources – Water Resources group at Stoel Rives, outlines the evolving challenges and opportunities in California water law. She explains how the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) has ushered in a new era of groundwater regulation, ending decades of largely unregulated use. As state-level oversight begins to complement local management efforts, water users face growing uncertainty—but also opportunities for innovation, including groundwater banking and wastewater reuse.

Ewens also highlights how aging infrastructure and shifting climate patterns are reshaping the legal and regulatory landscape. California’s water systems, originally designed around predictable snowmelt, are under strain from increasingly volatile weather. In response, lawmakers are actively updating legal frameworks to keep pace. For clients, staying informed about both local and statewide regulatory developments is more critical than ever in this rapidly changing environment.

Transcript

My name is Elizabeth Ewens and I am a partner in the Stoel Rives Sacramento office, and my practice focuses on California Water Resources Law.

What is the current outlook on groundwater resources and regulatory pressure?

I think the biggest issue that has been developing for the past several years in California is groundwater. Historically, groundwater use was not regulated in California. Any user of water or any landowner could basically put a straw in the basin, drop a well in, and take as much water as they needed to within reasonable and beneficial use requirements.

Since the enactment of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, also called SGMA, there is now regulation of groundwater resources. Most of that is at the local level. Some basins have been more successful than others and so now we are entering an entirely new phase where we are seeing some state intervention of groundwater use. That is imposing a whole lot of uncertainty for landowners and other water users within those basins because, again, these water resources that were historically unregulated and could rely on the future of those water resources is a little bit more uncertain. What I find very interesting about this is that there are opportunities for really creative solutions to maximize these groundwater resources. When it is done well, it is done really well. There are groundwater banking programs. There are wastewater programs, there are conservation measures that are being taken in different localities. It is very interesting, but again, it is a relatively new law, and in the water law space, which is very new. Basically, right now we are seeing the rubber starting to hit the road with regulatory actions.

How are aging infrastructure and changing weather patterns shaping client needs?

I think the biggest thing right now is the need to revamp aging infrastructure and the need to understand and adapt to changing weather patterns. Everything that we have in this state right now was built at a time when we had a lot of snow melt during a certain season. That has shifted thanks to climate change, and our laws are having to adjust. We are actually on Capitol Mall, down the street from us is the California State Capitol. We are seeing a whole lot of legislative activity as folks try to adjust the law to a changing landscape, and I do not think that is going to change. It is going to be really, really important for clients to understand what is happening locally from a regulatory perspective, and also what is happening statewide from a regulatory perspective because, again, the laws in this area have been pretty static for a long time, but they continue to be very dynamic as they try to adjust to reflect new realities.