OCR Text |
Show After the extent and location of the available resource is known, the next requirement is to measure its disposition. Records should be maintained of all water pumped from the underground basin. This is only part of the picture though, since a considerable part of the water pumped and used for irrigation or other purposes may return to the ground- water reservoir and be available for repumping. Thus, our knowledge of consumptive use must be applied. A complete water balance should be prepared for each developed area or at least for each ground- water basin. Often times, the usable underground water resource can be increased through artificial recharge or by other water management practices. The feasibility of this should be determined for each basin and methods worked out for not only doing the physical job of recharge but for recapturing all waters so stored. Detailed information on hydrologic basins throughout the state is completely lacking in certain areas and partially unknown in all areas. Funds appropriated for the State Engineer's Office to date have been far from sufficient for an adequate inventory of the ground- water resources of our state, and this lack of basic technical data has seriously hampered the administration of water rights. In the regulation of ground- water resources, it is important to recognize that ground water is not a separate resource, but is closely related to surface water in many places, and also is related to precipitation and to soil moisture. This interrelation of all water resources is inherent in the hydro- logic cycle. It has been pointed out in the findings of the Interim Committee on Government Organization for the State of California in the following words: " The problems of flood control, irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, preservation of water quality, construction and operation of storage reservoirs, and ground- water management are interrelated and should be considered as a unit." The administration of water rights under the appropriation doctrine is expensive, because it requires the collection of a large volume of basic data - 13- |