Cut down on water bureaucracy

I read in The Bee that, in response to California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act passed in December 2014, it is projected that our local groundwater pumping region will increase by up to five new water-sustainability agencies. In addition, each agency will be formed with its own plans to manage the groundwater. (Among other items, the act mandates 100 percent replenishment of all groundwater pumped by the distant year 2040.)

Great, this is just what we need – more bureaucracy to respond to the drought! During 2015, California’s 55 elected officials in Washington, D.C., could not agree upon a “must pass” ominibus federal spending package for California’s drought relief! And the last time I looked at California’s 273 separate existing agencies trying to make headway on the drought, little had been accomplished.

The state needs to empower the California Department of Water Resources with the common sense necessary to have it plan, develop, implement and maintain long-term solutions to our water needs. We do not need more local agencies created to prolong this bureaucratic process. We surely deserve better!

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 4:33 AM with the headline "Cut down on water bureaucracy."