From Nick Cahill, Water Education Foundation – January storms jump-started recharge projects in badly over-drafted San Joaquin valley, but hurdles with state permits and infrastructure hindered some efforts.  The barrage of water was in many ways the first real test of groundwater sustainability agencies’ plans to bring their basins into balance, as required by California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The run of storms revealed an assortment of bright spots and hurdles the state must overcome to fully take advantage of the bounty brought by the next big atmospheric river storm. (more)