In a story I wrote last week about underground water banking, I mentioned that neighbors usually worry about having their wells dried up.

A water official e-mailed Friday assuring me that diligent oversight committees and negotiation have largely solved those problems for many banks.

I think that's true, but bear with me on this one.

First, let's explain water banks. A land owner purchases extra river water, allows it to seep into the ground in wet times and pumps it back out in dry times.

To repeat the story: Neighbors always worry that the bank owner is going to pump out too much water and draw down the water table in the area. New wells are expensive to drill.

My story featured Apex Ranch along the Kings River. Neighbors allege the bank is drying up their wells. The bank owner, Kings County Water District, says data shows the bank is not harming surrounding wells.

As an example of other problems with neighbors, I wrote briefly about the Madera Water Bank, which had a big problem with surrounding land owners at one time.

Lance Johnson, manager of the Madera Irrigation District, which is working on the water bank, reminded me that those problems had been settled with painstaking negotiation with all the parties involved.

Like many bank owners, the Madera district formed an oversight committee with surrounding land owners and dealt up front with suspicions. Many such banks operate now without a problem.

The Apex Ranch has a similar oversight committee with some surrounding land owners. But other area land owners do not agree with the oversight committee. So a lawsuit is possible here -- even with an oversight committee.

You may remember last year I wrote about the state's largest underground bank -- the Kern Water Bank. The owners are being sued by surrounding land owners who have dry wells. The Kern Water Bank has an oversight committee, too.