Friant Water Supply Protection Association vs. Del Puerto Water District et al

Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus | October 31st, 2022

From Storage to Retention: Expanding California's Options for Meeting Its Water Needs

California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply (CRWFS) | November 19th, 2012

Achieving a more effective and flexible water storage system requires a shift in the way that we, as a society, understand, define, and use storage as an element of integ

Achieving a more effective and flexible water storage system requires a shift in the way that we, as a society, understand, define, and use storage as an element of integrated water management. Broadening our view of what constitutes a storage reservoir must be accompanied by a shift in our policies and programs to support a “retention” approach to storage—one that holds as much water as possible in the landscape for later use, while maintaining healthy ecosystems. To be more resilient and better prepared for future variations in water supply, California must take advantage of all storage opportunities throughout the system that meet the goals of reliable water supply and ecosystem restoration. Several valuable aspects of water storage tend to be overlooked in terms of their ability to contribute to the availability and reliability of water supplies for uses that benefit society. In particular, California’s agricultural lands play an important role in the storage infrastructure. The value of working lands in helping to sequester water for later use while achieving many benefits, such as food security, flood management and habitat restoration, represents a critical missed opportunity for improving water security. Four key principles must guide efforts to ensure effective water retention in the future: 1. Storage integrates all hydrological components affecting water availability, movement, and retention to improve supply reliability statewide for evolving needs. 2. Comprehensive, timely, accurate, accessible, and transparent data and resulting information about our water resources is an essential foundation for effectively managing water storage in California. 3. An effective storage system requires the coordination of policies and regulations, activities, oversight, and accountability of all government agencies to meet local, regional, and statewide needs simultaneously. 4. Water storage and retention for improved water supply reliability and watershed health is facilitated by the availability of new sources of financial support that allow investment in quantified outcomes. Improving the flow of information through coordinated data management and institutional coordination can lead to powerful water retention outcomes. Several new and innovative funding mechanisms can complement traditional funding streams for water retention and are particularly well suited to agricultural applications.

Geology, water resources and usable ground-water storage capacity of part of Solano County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 1960

The area described is confined largely to the valley-floor and foothill lands of Solano County, which lies directly between Sacramento, the State capital, and San Franc

The area described is confined largely to the valley-floor and foothill lands of Solano County, which lies directly between Sacramento, the State capital, and San Francisco. The area is considered in two subareas: The Putah area, which extends from Putah Creek southward to the Montezuma Hills and from the foothills of the Coast Ranges eastward to the west edge of the Yolo Bypass; and the Suisun-Fairfield area, which is to the southwest in the notch in the Coast Ranges through which the waters of the Great Central Valley of California reach San Francisco Bay. There are no known hydrologic interconnections between the two subareas, through either surface streams or underground aquifers. The climate of the area is characterized by warm, rainless summers and by cool winters in which temperatures seldom drop much below freezing. The rainfall ranges from about 17 inches per year along the east side to perhaps 24 inches in the foothills to the west, and irrigation is necessary for all crops except dry-farmed grains, pastures, and some orchards.

Global water resources and the role of groundwater in a resilient water future

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 31st, 2023

Water is a critical resource, but ensuring its availability faces challenges from climate extremes and human intervention. In this Review, we evaluate the current and his

Water is a critical resource, but ensuring its availability faces challenges from climate extremes and human intervention. In this Review, we evaluate the current and historical evolution of water resources, considering surface water and groundwater as a single, interconnected resource. Total water storage trends have varied across regions over the past century. Satellite data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) show declining, stable and rising trends in total water storage over the past two decades in various regions globally. Groundwater monitoring provides longer-term context over the past century, showing rising water storage in northwest India, central Pakistan and the northwest United States, and declining water storage in the US High Plains and Central Valley. Climate variability causes some changes in water storage, but human intervention, particularly irrigation, is a major driver. Water-resource resilience can be increased by diversifying management strategies. These approaches include green solutions, such as forest and wetland preservation, and grey solutions, such as increasing supplies (desalination, wastewater reuse), enhancing storage in surface reservoirs and depleted aquifers, and transporting water. A diverse portfolio of these solutions, in tandem with managing groundwater and surface water as a single resource, can address human and ecosystem needs while building a resilient water system.

GRACE Groundwater Drought Index: Evaluation of California Central Valley groundwater drought

Remote Sensing of Environment (Elsevier) | July 3rd, 2017

Quantitative approaches to assess the complexity of groundwater drought are hindered by the lack of direct observations of groundwater over space and time. Here,

Quantitative approaches to assess the complexity of groundwater drought are hindered by the lack of direct observations of groundwater over space and time. Here, we present an approach to evaluate groundwater drought occurrence based on observations from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission. Normalized GRACE-derived groundwater storage deviations are shown to quantify groundwater storage deficits during the GRACE record, which we define as the GRACE Groundwater Drought Index (GGDI). As a case study, GGDI is applied over the Central Valley of California, a regional aquifer undergoing intensive human activities and subject to significant drought periods during the GRACE record. Relations between GGDI and other hydrological drought indices highlight our ability to capture drought delays unique to groundwater drought. Further, GGDI captures characteristics of groundwater drought that occur as a result of complex human activities and natural changes, thus presenting a framework to assess multi-driver groundwater drought characteristics.

Groundwater Flow Model of the East and South Las Posas Sub-Basins – Preliminary Draft Report

Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD) | ?

INTERA Incorporated (INTERA) was retained by the Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD) to develop a numerical groundwater model of the East Las Posas Management Area

INTERA Incorporated (INTERA) was retained by the Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD) to develop a numerical groundwater model of the East Las Posas Management Area (ELPMA), which includes the locally-recognized east and south sub-basins of the Las Posas Valley Basin (LPVB). Groundwater in the ELPMA is found in a multiple-aquifer system characterized by intense faulting and folding, which is known to exert structural controls on groundwater flow and movement. The ELPMA is known to receive recharge from surface water flows in Arroyo Las Posas/Simi that runs east to west along the southern edge of the basin. Flows in the Arroyo have become perennial as a result of discharges from wastewater treatment plants and dewatering wells within and upstream of the ELPMA. Hence, understanding and modeling the surface-water/groundwater interaction along the Arroyo is an important component of the numerical model development. CMWD also owns and operates the Las Posas Basin Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Project, consisting of eighteen high capacity ASR wells and associated facilities located in the ELPMA that are used to inject and recover potable water purchased from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan). Basin response to injection/extractions at the ASR well fields and the evaluation of storage capacity of the ASR well field are key considerations for this modeling project. 

Groundwater Vulnerability Study Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara Valley Water District | October 18th, 2010

The Santa Clara Valley Water District (District) is the primary water resources agency in Santa Clara County. This Groundwater Vulnerability Study was conducted to predic

The Santa Clara Valley Water District (District) is the primary water resources agency in Santa Clara County. This Groundwater Vulnerability Study was conducted to predict the vulnerability of groundwater to potentially contaminating land use activities to aid the District in its management and protection activities. Groundwater vulnerability is comprised of two key components: 1) groundwater sensitivity and 2) potentially contaminating activities. Groundwater sensitivity is generally defined as the relative ease with which a contaminant on or near the land surface can migrate to the aquifer of interest based on the intrinsic characteristics of the aquifer and the overlying unsaturated materials. Groundwater sensitivity is combined with the potentially contaminating activities risk to characterize overall groundwater vulnerability. The Study Area is comprised of three groundwater subbasins: the Santa Clara, the Coyote, and the Llagas. Each has unique hydrogeologic characteristics as well as unique current and historic land uses. Water-bearing units in the Study Area have been grouped into two major aquifer systems, the Shallow Aquifer and Principal Aquifer. Groundwater vulnerability was assessed separately for each aquifer. Generally, the Shallow Aquifer occurs above regional confining layers. The Principal Aquifer lies beneath the Shallow Aquifer and supplies most of the groundwater produced for beneficial uses in the Study Area. The Principal Aquifer occurs under semi-confined to confined conditions. In areas where confining layers do not exist or are not laterally and vertically extensive, only the Principal Aquifer occurs. Accordingly, in the recharge zones, depth to water was characterized as the first encountered groundwater for both the Shallow and Principal aquifers. In contrast, the Shallow and Principal aquifers were uniquely defined in the confined areas with the Shallow Aquifer characterized by the first encountered groundwater and the Principal Aquifer defined by the top screened interval of wells tapping the primary groundwater production zone. The southern area and lateral margins of the Santa Clara Subbasin are unconfined recharge areas. An extensive regional aquitard occurs in the northern interior portion of the subbasin. The Santa Clara Subbasin is currently highly developed with residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Due to the high density of urban land uses including major industrial manufacturing and processing facilities, point-source contamination is prevalent but generally contained in the Shallow Aquifer. This is due, in part, to the protection offered by the significant confining layers found in the northern portion of the subbasin. The Santa Clara Subbasin is currently undergoing continued urban expansion and redevelopment of formerly industrial areas to residential use. No significant laterally extensive confining layers exist in the Coyote Subbasin, and groundwater generally occurs under unconfined conditions. Compared with the Santa Clara Subbasin, the Coyote Subbasin is relatively rural, undeveloped, and mostly unincorporated with far fewer industrial/commercial contaminant release sites. Due to generally unconfined conditions, the Coyote Subbasin is hydrogeologically sensitive to groundwater contamination. Existing water quality impacts are related to agricultural practices and rural (e.g., septic) land use. Coyote Valley has a high potential for future residential and commercial development. Groundwater in the Llagas Subbasin occurs under unconfined to confined conditions. Generally unconfined recharge areas are found in the northern portion of the subbasin, while confining layers become more frequent and laterally and vertically extensive in the southern areas. Accordingly, the northern portion of the subbasin is relatively more hydrogeologically sensitive to groundwater contamination compared with the southern subbasin. The Llagas Subbasin has urban development focused in the north and south with the central portion of the subbasin comprised predominantly of agricultural development and large residential parcels. The Llagas Subbasin is currently impacted by high levels of nitrate associated with rural land use and agriculture and perchlorate from historic releases from a flare manufacturer. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify established methods to conduct vulnerability assessments. Based on the evaluation of available groundwater sensitivity assessment methods and an understanding of available hydrogeologic and water quality information for the Study Area, a statistical method was selected to quantify the sensitivity to contamination of the Shallow Aquifer and Principal Aquifer. Water quality data (i.e., nitrate concentrations and distribution) were used for calibration and verification purposes to identify and rank groundwater sensitivity factors. Based on the logistic regression statistical analysis, four factors were found to be the most important in characterizing groundwater sensitivity. These include 1) soil media characteristics in the vadose zone, 2) groundwater recharge, 3) depth to top of screen, and 4) annual groundwater production. Groundwater recharge in the Study Area includes a significant amount of artificial recharge conducted by the District. Traditionally, artificial recharge and groundwater production would not be considered intrinsic aquifer characteristics. However, for this Study, groundwater sensitivity did include consideration of quasiintrinsic characteristics such as artificial recharge and production. In addition to the objective statistical analysis, subjective refinements relative to artificial recharge areas and characterization of depth to water/aquifer were applied based on observation, technical judgment, and limitations in the nitrate data set. These refinements included subjectively ranking areas near artificial recharge areas as highly sensitive and using depth to first encountered groundwater to represent the depth to water factor for the Principal Aquifer in the recharge zones. This results in higher sensitivity in the recharge areas for the Principal Aquifer. Figures ES-1 and ES-2 show the sensitivity of the Shallow and Principal aquifers, respectively. Not surprisingly, the sensitivity assessment found that the Shallow Aquifer is more sensitive than the Principal Aquifer. In addition, the analysis indicates that the sensitivity of the Shallow and Principal aquifers is generally highest in the Llagas Subbasin, followed by the Coyote Subbasin, and Santa Clara Subbasin. Despite the protection afforded by the regional confining layer in the southern portion of the Llagas Subbasin, both the Shallow and Principal aquifers are highly sensitive to contamination due to high recharge rates and permeable soils. The sensitivity of the Shallow and Principal aquifers in the Coyote Subbasin are also relatively high due primarily to shallow aquifer conditions, high recharge rates, and large amounts of groundwater production. Although the confined zone in the Santa Clara Subbasin affords relatively good protection from surface contamination, the outer western confined zone appears to be highly sensitive to contamination due to the significant groundwater production in this area. Unlike the sensitivity assessment, it is not possible to statistically calibrate potentially contaminating activities risk. Accordingly, potentially contaminating activities are commonly identified and ranked based on subjective observation and experience (e.g., California Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection Program). For the potentially contaminating activities risk ranking, emphasis was placed on accurately characterizing the maximum risks so as not to underestimate potential risks. The potentially contaminating activities risk analysis included four main risk factors or categories—general plan land use, potentially contaminating business activities, known contaminated sites, and supplemental data. Twenty-nine land use categories were selected and ranked with respect to groundwater impacts. Relative risk ranks were developed for 48 categories of business activities. Known and open contamination sites were given the highest ranking with a lower ranking for closed sites. Additional supplemental data for irrigated agriculture, septic system density, mines, landfills, and petroleum pipelines were also ranked and included in the analysis. These various risk factors were combined to generate the overall potentially contaminating activities risk distribution map. The potentially contaminating activities risk analysis found large portions of the Santa Clara Subbasin are at high risk due to its high level of development with commercial and industrial areas and many associated industrial and commercial contaminant release sites along with the lingering impacts of agricultural releases. Relatively lower overall risks are associated with the Coyote Subbasin, which is relatively rural, undeveloped, and mostly unincorporated with far fewer industrial/commercial contaminant release sites. Nonetheless, most of the subbasin shows a moderate level of risk associated with irrigated agriculture. It is important to note that the Coyote Valley has the most potential for future development and thus the most potential for an increase in risk in the future. Relatively lower overall potentially contaminating activities risk (compared with the Santa Clara Subbasin) is found in the Llagas Subbasin due to its more rural nature. Areas of relatively higher risk are associated with commercial and industrial development in the vicinity of the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Moderate risk is found in the central portion of the subbasin associated with irrigated agriculture. While continued conversion of rural to urban land use in the vicinity of the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy in the future will likely increase risk in these areas, the central portion of the subbasin is expected to remain relatively unchanged with respect to risk, given the established zoning. The sensitivity assessment and potentially contaminating activities risk were combined to create the overall vulnerability maps for the Shallow and Principal aquifers. Figures ES-3 and ES-4 show the vulnerability of the Shallow and Principal aquifers, respectively. As might be expected, the vulnerability of the Shallow Aquifer is greater than the Principal Aquifer in areas of confinement in the Santa Clara Subbasin. The density of commercial/industrial sites and known contamination release sites in the northern Santa Clara Subbasin make the Shallow Aquifer highly vulnerable to contamination. The Principal Aquifer has fewer areas of very high vulnerability compared with the Shallow Aquifer due to the relative lower sensitivity of the Principal Aquifer. The Llagas and Coyote subbasins exhibit high to very high groundwater vulnerability in both the Shallow and Principal aquifers. The high vulnerability is driven primarily by the high sensitivity in these two subbasins. Given the potential for future development in the Coyote Subbasin, the high degree of vulnerability of the subbasin requires the highest level of effort directed toward protection. Following completion of the vulnerability assessment, a web-based geographical information system tool was developed, which incorporated the sensitivity, potentially contaminating activities risk, and vulnerability maps. Additional maps are also provided to enhance the usefulness of the tool. The tool enables District staff to work interactively with the vulnerability study analysis. The tool enables District staff to evaluate potential impacts of land use changes, prioritize basin management activities, prioritize review of known contamination sites, update existing data layers, update or modify risk factors, and add supplemental data layers.

High‐resolution surface water dynamics in Earth’s small and medium‐sized reservoirs

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | August 12th, 2022

Small and medium‐sized reservoirs play an important role in water systems that need to cope with climate variability and various other man‐made and natural challenges

Small and medium‐sized reservoirs play an important role in water systems that need to cope with climate variability and various other man‐made and natural challenges. Although reservoirs and dams are criticized for their negative social and environmental impacts by reducing natural flow variability and obstructing river connections, they are also recognized as important for social and economic development and climate change adaptation. Multiple studies map large dams and analyze the dynamics of water stored in the reservoirs behind these dams, but very few studies focus on small and medium‐sized reservoirs on a global scale. In this research, we use multi‐annual multi‐sensor satellite data, combined with cloud analytics, to monitor the state of small (10–100 ha) to medium‐ sized (> 100 ha, excluding 479 large ones) artificial water reservoirs globally for the first time. These reservoirs are of crucial importance to the well‐being of many societies, but regular monitoring records of their water dynamics are mostly missing. We combine the results of multiple studies to identify 71,208 small to medium‐sized reservoirs, followed by reconstructing surface water area changes from satellite data using a novel method introduced in this study. The dataset is validated using 768 daily in‐situ water level and storage measurements (r2 > 0.7 for 67% of the reservoirs used for the validation) demonstrating that the surface water area dynamics can be used as a proxy for water storage dynamics in many cases. Our analysis shows that for small reservoirs, the inter‐annual and intra‐annual variability is much higher than for medium‐sized reservoirs worldwide. This implies that the communities reliant on small reservoirs are more vulnerable to climate extremes, both short‐term (within seasons) and longer‐term (across seasons). Our findings show that the long‐term inter‐annual and intra‐annual changes in these reservoirs are not equally distributed geographically. Through several cases, we demonstrate that this technology can help monitor water scarcity conditions and emerging food insecurity, and facilitate transboundary cooperation. It has the potential to provide operational information on conditions in ungauged or upstream riparian countries that do not share such data with neighboring countries. This may help to create a more level playing field in water resource information globally.

Human alteration of global surface water storage variability

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | March 3rd, 2021

Knowing the extent of human influence on the global hydrological cycle is essential for the sustainability of freshwater resources on Earth. However, a lack of water leve

Knowing the extent of human influence on the global hydrological cycle is essential for the sustainability of freshwater resources on Earth. However, a lack of water level observations for the world’s ponds, lakes and reservoirs has limited the quantification of human-managed (reservoir) changes in surface water storage compared to its natural variability. The global storage variability in surface water bodies and the extent to which it is altered by humans therefore remain unknown. Here we show that 57 per cent of the Earth’s seasonal surface water storage variability occurs in human-managed reservoirs. Using measurements from NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite laser altimeter, which was launched in late 2018, we assemble an extensive global water level dataset that quantifies water level variability for 227,386 water bodies from October 2018 to July 2020. We find that seasonal variability in human-managed reservoirs averages 0.86 metres, whereas natural water bodies vary by only 0.22 metres. Natural variability in surface water storage is greatest in tropical basins, whereas human-managed variability is greatest in the Middle East, southern Africa and the western USA. Strong regional patterns are also found, with human influence driving 67 per cent of surface water storage variability south of 45 degrees north and nearly 100 per cent in certain arid and semi-arid regions. As economic development, population growth and climate change continue to pressure global water resources, our approach provides a useful baseline from which ICESat-2 and future satellite missions will be able to track human modifications to the global hydrologic cycle.

Hydro-economic analysis of groundwater pumping for irrigated agriculture in California’s Central Valley, USA

Hydrogeology Journal (Springer) | July 12th, 2015

As in many places, groundwater in California (USA) is the major alternative water source for agriculture during drought, so groundwater’s availability will drive some i

As in many places, groundwater in California (USA) is the major alternative water source for agriculture during drought, so groundwater’s availability will drive some inevitable changes in the state’s water management. Currently, agricultural, environmental, and urban uses compete for groundwater, resulting in substantial overdraft in dry years with lowering of water tables, which in turn increases pumping costs and reduces groundwater pumping capacity. In this study, SWAP (an economic model of agricultural production and water use in California) and C2VISim (the California Department of Water Resources groundwater model for California’s Central Valley) are connected. This paper examines the economic costs of pumping replacement groundwater during drought and the potential loss of pumping capacity as groundwater levels drop. A scenario of three additional drought years continuing from 2014 show lower water tables in California’s Central Valley and loss of pumping capacity. Places without access to groundwater and with uncertain surface-water deliveries during drought are the most economically vulnerable in terms of crop revenues, employment and household income. This is particularly true for Tulare Lake Basin, which relies heavily on water imported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Remote-sensing estimates of idle agricultural land between 2012 and 2014 confirm this finding. Results also point to the potential of a portfolio approach for agriculture, in which crop mixing and conservation practices have substantial roles.