When rain is in short supply in California, groundwater accounts for about 60 percent of all the freshwater consumed in the state.
Until recently, the state had no comprehensive plan on how to manage the precious resource. Meanwhile, pumping and drilling increased.
That's supposed to change under a law passed last year that seeks to regulate the state's groundwater for the first time in a century.
That process is fraught with challenges on the local level.
Ryan Sabalow with the Sacramento Bee joins Take Two with more.