Governance for Groundwater Sustainability
Michael Kiparsky, Associate Director
Law
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
California faces major challenges with groundwater governance. Groundwater is a crucial source of water for Californians, but Californians are pumping more groundwater than is naturally replenished. That leads to growing aquifer depletion, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, with a variety of negative human health, environmental, and economic consequences. Some of the heaviest burdens have been borne by poor Central Valley communities.
This research project involves compiling and analyzing data on one aspect of California’s groundwater-governance challenges. In California, local groundwater regulation is handled by “groundwater sustainability agencies,” which were formed following the 2014 passage of a law called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Many of these agencies are governed by representatives of other preexisting water districts. Under California law, as in other western states, many water districts only allow landowners to serve on their governing boards, and some water districts also only allow landowners to vote, with votes allocated in proportion to the area of land owned. Consequently, in parts of California, people who rent property cannot vote for, or serve on, the boards that govern a crucial resource.
Role: This project will involve helping create maps of groundwater governance in California. The student researcher will help compile data on the governance structures of groundwater sustainability agencies throughout California. Using GIS, the researcher will create maps that present those data. The student researcher may also run statistical analyses seeking to determine whether the governance structures of GSAs correlate with important groundwater-management outcomes. The student will learn about the intersection of groundwater management, governance, and equity in California through an interdisciplinary lens, and potentially contribute to published work on the topic.
Qualifications: The ideal student will have solid GIS skills and a strong interest in water management. Statistical-analysis skills are helpful but not necessary. Excel or database skills are also helpful.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Molly Bruce
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: http://wheeler.berkeley.edu
Social Sciences Environmental Issues