"SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — Water experts say that officials must work closely with communities to efficiently manage groundwater systems amid climate change — despite growing animosity among landowners.

Scientists and experts at the nonpartisan Water Education Foundation’s third international groundwater conference Tuesday said that, with so many styles of groundwater management, strong partnerships are the only way to sustainably handle water supplies within and beyond California.

Nancy Vogel, California’s Deputy Secretary for Water, said that one of the greatest obstacles to sustainably managing water is how California farmers use groundwater — water stored within aquifers underground. 

For more than a century, the state regulated surface water with a very complex set of laws, Vogel said. Groundwater has been another story."