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Podcasts Take Two
How new Calif. groundwater regulations could help save water
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Sep 17, 2014
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How new Calif. groundwater regulations could help save water
Until Gov. Jerry Brown signed this legislation into law, California was the only western state that did not regulate its groundwater.
The Orange County Water District's Groundwater Replenishment System in Fountain Valley takes treated sewage wastewater from the sanitation plant next door and purifies it into 70 million gallons of drinking water a day. The water is piped to a recharge basin in Anaheim where it percolates into a 350 square mile aquifer.
The Orange County Water District's Groundwater Replenishment System in Fountain Valley takes treated sewage wastewater from the sanitation plant next door and purifies it into 70 million gallons of drinking water a day. The water is piped to a recharge basin in Anaheim where it percolates into a 350 square mile aquifer.
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Jim Kutzle/Orange County Water District
)

Until Gov. Jerry Brown signed this legislation into law, California was the only western state that did not regulate its groundwater.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark groundwater regulation into law on Tuesday.

It requires local agencies to manage groundwater supplies in their region and intervene if aquifers get too low. Until this law passed, California was the only western state not to regulate its groundwater.

Lester Snow of the California Water Foundation explains the law's significance and how it might combat the problems caused by the drought.