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<br />OO:G54 <br /> <br />regulated to control overdraft problems. Unless aquifers are controlled through schemes of <br /> <br /> <br />tradeable pumping rights,! 1 reallocation of water from agricultural to municipal use may result <br /> <br />in aggravation of groundwater overdraft.12 <br /> <br />Each legislative session, state legislatures in western states are empowering local areas to <br /> <br />control the transfer of groundwater. Generally, the approaches to date leave much of the <br /> <br />"specifics" of local regulation to local authorities. If local authorities use the overdraft problem <br /> <br />as a pretense to. prohibit or to impose unreasonable restrictions on groundwater transfers, then <br /> <br />the 19905 will probably witness litigation analogous to the parade of cases created by EI Paso v. <br />Revnolds.J3 <br /> <br />A regime of tradeable pumping rights could have two components.14 The first specifies <br /> <br />the amount of pumping that can be used on overlying lands. The second specifies the amount <br /> <br />of pumping that can be used on nonoverlying lands. The second amount could be set to equal <br /> <br />the portion of water use on overlying lands that does not recharge the aquifer. Under this <br /> <br />rule, the original farmer's pumping and a municipality's exporting of pumped water would have <br /> <br />11 See "Local Control of Groundwater Overdraft: The Lessons from Adjudicated Basins," <br />Water Strategist 5, 13-15 (Jan. 1990) [hereinafter Local Control]. <br /> <br />12 A commonly neglected part of the history of Los Angeles water appropriations from <br />the Owens Valley is that the bulk of L.A.'s exports involved the pumping of groundwater from <br />unadjudicated basins. <br /> <br />13 See EI Paso v. Reynolds, 563 F. Supp. 379 (D.N.M. 1983); EI Paso v. Reynolds, 597 F. <br />Supp. 694 (D.N.M. 1984). <br /> <br />14 See Local Control, suora. <br /> <br />16 <br />