The Radical Groundwater Storage Test

IN BRIEF

• California could better survive flood years and drought years by capturing floodwaters and using them to recharge underground aquifers that farmers and municipalities now pump from when rains are scarce.
• To do so, water users and managers have to regard surface water and groundwater as one connected resource.
• A variety of test projects are proving that this approach can work. For example, farm fields can be flooded even when crops are growing so the water can percolate down into aquifers. Revising water rights and paying landowners to allow flooding can help the techniques work across California and the world.