Will drilling more wells in California help or hurt?

While everyone agrees the state's aquifers are quickly being drawn down, no California or federal rules govern how much water can be pumped out. Driven by a similar set of concerns, other Western states have set up laws to limit pumping.

Dennis Freeman, who oversees a main canal that irrigates the valley's farm fields, says even without government-financed wells, it is already costing millions to fix the damage wrought by decades of pumping.

"There's no doubt about it, the canal is sinking," he says, gesturing at cracked and buckled concrete panels lining the structure's edge. "There's more wells going in, because our growers gotta get water to their crops. But we're always concerned about the effect that will have."

Federal officials also are monitoring whether pumping could cause the California Aqueduct to sink, slowing deliveries of drinking water to millions of Southern Californians and forcing costly repairs.

Another concern is the quality of water. The federal and state governments allow landowners with wells on their property to swap their underground water for higher-quality canal water.

The brackish groundwater is then pumped into an aqueduct that supplies cities, farms and industry to the south, but that causes what comes out of the tap to grow saltier. The saltier water is expected to cause $18 million in long-term economic damages in those areas, such as problems with water recycling plants and the deterioration of appliances.

Salazar, a former rancher and environmental lawyer, told California farmers the wells and other taxpayer-funded projects would help their businesses stay alive.
"I've watched acres of our land dry up. I've gone to the bank with my brothers and not been able to get financing myself," he says. "You're all wondering what is your future in 30 years, and I know there's a lot of pain right now."

Despite recent storms, the pain is not expected to let up anytime soon. Last month, the Department of Water Resources announced it would release a record-low amount of water to farmers and urban dwellers next year, a response to dry weather and environmental protections for a native fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

As the state struggles to find a solution, even federal water managers are discussing whether this small portion of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill could aggravate the problem.

"It keeps coming up in conversation, because we know the more active wells there are, the more these concerns come to the surface," says Michael Jackson, the Bureau of Reclamation's area manager for south central California.

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