Professor Dunning Interviewed by KCET on California Groundwater Regulation
Professor Emeritus Harrison C. "Hap" Dunning was interviewed for a news report by Southern California public television station KCET on California's efforts to regulate groundwater in the Central Valley. Dunning talked about his work as chair of a Blue Ribbon Commission established to study state water laws by Jerry Brown during his earlier term as governor during the ‘70s.
"When we submitted our report, we recommended things quite similar to what they did last year at the legislature to begin to regulate groundwater," Dunning said. "Jerry Brown gave a brilliant press conference but he didn't use any muscle to get anything through the Legislature. We had a solid array of people against us -- chambers of commerce, the Association of California Water Agencies, and farm interests."
Groundwater remained unregulated in California until the Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, which requires some water agencies to draw up sustainability plans within the next five years, and allows decades for implementation. Harrison Dunning called the Act "a start."
Professor Dunning, a key figure in the development of the Environmental Law program at UC Davis School of Law, is one of California's most respected environmental law scholars and practitioners.