Professor Frank Testifies Before Senate Panel About SGMA's Impact

On March 11, Professor of Environmental Practice Rick Frank was invited to testify before the California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water in Sacramento. The hearing was titled “The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) at 11 Years: Progress and Challenges.”

The topic of Frank’s testimony was “SGMA: What Is It, How Did We Get Here, and Where Are We Now.” He gave an overview of the Legislature’s landmark 2014 SGMA legislation, including its key provisions; the state regulatory oversight functions SGMA mandated; and an assessment of how successfully the statute has been implemented over the past decade. 

Frank’s testimony also briefly addressed the Legislature’s passage of related legislation in 2015 designed to make more efficient California’s system of judicial groundwater adjudications, and to maximize its consistency and compatibility with SGMA’s administrative mandates.  Finally, Frank responded to the committee’s questions with suggestions about how SGMA could be improved and made more effective through future legislative revisions to the statute.

Richard M. Frank is a leader in the field of environmental law, Professor of Environmental Practice and the founding director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.