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water to meet all of their needs. The solution in their eyes was not regulating an inadequate supply, but importing more water. Similarly, Proposition 13 of 1982 would have required local plans to be developed and approved by state officials for 11 overdrafted aquifers. The groundwater regulations - along with provisions for conserving water and restricting the initial filling of New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus River - were rejected by voters. As cities seek new water supplies to meet grmving demands, there is increased illferest in trall.\/erring growuln:aler frol1l rura/fo urban areas - (l complex and confrol'ersial issue. By the mid-1990s, however, three events pushed the concept of groundwater regulation back in front of state policy-makers: 1) With federal officials concerned that California was not adequately protecting its groundwater resources from contamination, the Legislature in 1992 passed the Groundwater Management Act, AB 3030 (Water Code Section 10750 et seq.), The law allows a variety of local water agencies to voluntarily develop ground- water management plans and to better coordinate :,'--'d('-I' - "....."....r l.'~i,I_+~'_l .':,-,~'J:1:~ ,. J1t: ~. the use of surface water and groundwater supplies. known as conjunctive use. 2) The 1987-1993 drought raised concerns that groundwater increasingly may be pumped from one region and transported to another. In a specific case involving Tehama County, the courts in 1994 ultimately affirmed that the police powers of county governments give them some regulatory authority - along with the state and any special districts - over groundwater (see page 18). 3) The State Board relied on a seldom used statute, Water Code Section 2100, to warn officials in Monterey County that it could request the court to adjudicate the basin to prevent imminent and irreparable threats to water quality in the aquifer. In 1994, the State Board initiated an investigation to prepare for a possible adjudication, prompting local officials to take steps to resolve two long-standing problems: nitrogen pollution resulting from farm fertilizers and sea water intrusion resulting from excessive groundwater extraction.