Final Mojave Region Integrated Regional Water Management Plan

Mojave Water Agency (MWA) | June 1st, 2014

Final Sensitive Beneficial Use Literature Review (Task 3.1.1)

Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-Salts) | May 16th, 2023

Final Urban Water Management Plan Goleta Water District

Goleta Water District (GWD) | December 20th, 2005

First annual report of the Mojave Basin Area Watermaster 1993-1994

Mojave Basin Area Watermaster | February 28th, 1995

First Supplement to Bulletin No. 11, San Joaquin County Investigation, Basic Data, Calaveras and Littlejohns Units, 1953-1955

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | June 30th, 1955

Fish & Wildlife Groundwater Planning Considerations

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) | June 6th, 2019

In 2014, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (AB1739, SB 1168, SB 1319), authorizing local groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to d

In 2014, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (AB1739, SB 1168, SB 1319), authorizing local groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to develop groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) for a subset of California’s alluvial aquifers. To comply with SGMA, GSAs must achieve sustainable groundwater management, defined by SGMA as the avoidance of locally-defined undesirable results. To achieve sustainability, GSAs must develop and implement effective groundwater management plans that consider the interests of all beneficial uses and users of groundwater, including environmental users of groundwater. [Water Code § 10723.2.] In many groundwater basins, fish and wildlife that rely on groundwater are among these beneficial uses and users. Many sensitive species and habitats comprise groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), which are natural communities that rely on groundwater to sustain all or a portion of their water needs. The unsustainable use of groundwater can impact the shallow aquifers and interconnected surface waters on which GDEs depend and may lead to adverse impacts on fish and wildlife. As trustee for California’s fish and wildlife resources, CDFW intends to engage as a stakeholder in groundwater planning processes (where resources are available) to represent the groundwater needs of GDEs and fish and wildlife beneficial uses and users of groundwater. The information provided here is intended to help local groundwater planners, groundwater planning proponents and consultants, and CDFW staff work together to consider the needs of fish and wildlife when developing groundwater management plans and implementing SGMA. The document includes three categories of groundwater planning considerations: Scientific Considerations Management Considerations; and Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Considerations. Links to additional guidance and considerations developed by CDFW and other organizations that address the impacts of groundwater pumping on GDEs and depletion of interconnected surface water can be found at the end of this document. Except to the extent that this document directly references existing statutory or regulatory requirements, use of these groundwater planning considerations is not mandated under law and should not be interpreted as a rule, regulation, order, or standard for local groundwater plans. Practical application of these considerations must be based on the best available information and groundwater basin-specific conditions.

Fish & Wildlife Groundwater Planning Considerations: Freshwater Wetlands

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) | June 6th, 2019

 In 2014, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (AB1739, SB 1168, SB 1319), authorizing local groundwater sustainability agencies to develo

 In 2014, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (AB1739, SB 1168, SB 1319), authorizing local groundwater sustainability agencies to develop groundwater sustainably plans for a subset of California’s alluvial aquifers. This document provides considerations to assist local groundwater sustainability agencies in avoiding or minimizing adverse impacts to freshwater wetland beneficial uses and users of groundwater in local groundwater management planning and implementation. The information provided is intended to help local groundwater planners, groundwater planning proponents and consultants, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff work together to protect wetlands as a public trust resource. 

Five-century record of climate and groundwater recharge variability in southern California

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | December 3rd, 2019

Modifications to the rates of water flowing from the surface to groundwater (groundwater recharge) due to climate variability are the most difficult to assess because of

Modifications to the rates of water flowing from the surface to groundwater (groundwater recharge) due to climate variability are the most difficult to assess because of the lack of direct long-term observations. Here, we analyze the chloride salt distribution below the surface soil on a plateau near Los Angeles to reconstruct the amount of recharge that occurred in the last five centuries. Over this time interval, periods of major high and low recharge with different duration follow each other and this cyclicity is consistent with long-term atmospheric forcing patterns, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. This study determines the range and the natural variability of recharge to groundwater, which sustains local freshwater flow system, and helps forecast future availability of groundwater resource in southern California, where water scarcity is critical to both local and global populations.

FLOOD- MAR Using Flood Water for Managed Aquifer Recharge to Support Sustainable Water Resources

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | June 26th, 2018

The effects of climate change are necessitating wholesale changes in how water is managed in California.  With less water storage from snowpack, California needs to leve

The effects of climate change are necessitating wholesale changes in how water is managed in California.  With less water storage from snowpack, California needs to leverage both the current water system and new opportunities to provide sustainable alternatives that can simultaneously accommodate longer and deeper droughts, and more severe, and frequent, episodic and seasonal flooding. This recent cycle of drought and flood, and the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), provide an enhanced opportunity to modernize State policies related to the nexus between flood management, land use, groundwater management, and ecosystem enhancement. Partnerships, among DWR; other State, federal, tribal, regional, and local entities; and university and private researchers, are actively exploring opportunities to determine how flood and groundwater management can be integrated for multiple benefits. Although integrating flood and groundwater management is not a new concept, the time is ripe to implement an expanded, large-scale integrated program. With the passage and early implementation of SGMA, in combination with climate-induced extreme events, the logic for communities to partner and integrate is evident and imperative. This partnership will help reduce the impacts of future swings between high- and low-flow periods while meeting their communities’ objectives, with the added benefits of improving floodplain ecosystems, preserving working landscapes, and engaging California’s agricultural community in needed solutions, among others. This white paper explores “Flood-MAR”, an integrated and voluntary resource management strategy that uses flood water resulting from, or in anticipation of, rainfall or snowmelt for groundwater recharge on agricultural lands and working landscapes, including but not limited to refuges, floodplains, and flood bypasses. Large-scale implementation of Flood-MAR will fundamentally change how flood and groundwater management are managed. Flood-MAR can be implemented at multiple scales, from individual landowners diverting flood water with existing infrastructure, to using extensive detention/recharge areas and modernizing flood protection infrastructure/operations. Flood-MAR’s potential and value for California is achieved by integrating Flood-MAR with other regional recharge efforts, changing management of California’s water system to better integrate surface water and groundwater, upgrading conveyance, storage, and operations, and considering Flood-MAR’s opportunities as related to water transport and transfers are some of the system integration considerations. This white paper demonstrates the need for Flood-MAR to become an important part of California’s portfolio of water resource management strategies, now and in the future, to help significantly improve water resources sustainability and climate resiliency throughout the state.  Using Flood Water for Managed Aquifer Recharge Can Provide Broad Benefits. There is a clear State interest in encouraging, and participating in, Flood-MAR projects because they can provide broad and multiple public and private benefits for Californians and the ecosystems of the state. Potential public benefits include: - Flood Risk Reduction. - Drought Preparedness. - Aquifer Replenishment. - Ecosystem Enhancement. - Subsidence Mitigation. - Water Quality Improvement. - Working Landscape Preservation and Stewardship.

Flood-MAR Research and Data Development Plan

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 31st, 2019

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is pleased to make this plan available to the growing network of farmers, researchers, planners, and water and land managers who wan

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is pleased to make this plan available to the growing network of farmers, researchers, planners, and water and land managers who want to expand our collective knowledge about using floodwaters for managed aquifer recharge (Flood-MAR). This plan outlines the priority information needed by those making management decisions about the where, when, and how of capturing available flood water to replenish California’s depleted aquifers.