Institutional and Legal Dimensions of Drainage Management

This chapter discusses the drainage problem in California’s western San Joaquin Valley and the difficulties created by current institutional arrangements (within water and drainage districts, between districts and State and Federal agencies, etc.). A proposed institutional solution package is suggested based on similar problems elsewhere. The anatomy of the solution is presented and discussed. The proposed package is applied to a small region. A case study analysis is used to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed institutional solution. The conclusion section addresses obstacles to be removed if such solution is to be implemented.