Estimating Monetized Benefits of Groundwater Recharge from Stormwater Retention Practices

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | February 4th, 2016

Stormwater impacts from development have been documented extensively in peer-reviewed literature and summarized in the National Research Council’s report titled Urban S

Stormwater impacts from development have been documented extensively in peer-reviewed literature and summarized in the National Research Council’s report titled Urban Stormwater Management in the United States (National Research Council, 2009). To address these impacts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water (OW) evaluated several potential scenarios for managing stormwater from new development and redevelopment using small stormwater retention practices. The objective of these practices is to reduce runoff volume to simulate pre-development hydrology and protect water quality. These practices are often designed to infiltrate the retained water, which can provide groundwater recharge to help maintain predevelopment groundwater levels. For the purposes of this study, infiltration was assumed, whereas in practice capture-and-use or other methods also may be applied. The purpose of the study is to inform valuation of groundwater recharge from stormwater retention in areas projected for new development and redevelopment. Retention practices can prevent the loss of natural recharge that may occur on a developed site without these practices. This study examined a simplified methodology for estimating recharge volume and used observed prices of water for monetary valuation. Groundwater recharge is just one benefit within the larger context of the costs and benefits of stormwater retention practices. The full range of potential benefits were not addressed in this study, but the full suite of benefits should be considered when comparing to an estimated cost of implementation. Costs of implementing retention practices in areas of new and redevelopment also were not addressed in this study. The estimates represent the groundwater recharge volume and value that would result if stormwater retention practices were implemented in areas within the contiguous U.S. not currently requiring stormwater retention. The stormwater retention practices were assumed to capture a specified depth of runoff, in the range of 0.5 to 2 inches (i.e. not large storm attenuation) with a goal of reducing runoff volumes to levels similar to those for pre-developed landscape conditions. This approach is commonly referred to as “green infrastructure” for stormwater management or low impact development (LID). While small storm retention that approximates predevelopment runoff could also be achieved with cisterns in those areas where infiltration is not desired or is not feasible, the option of cistern capture was not evaluated in this study. The timeframe selected for the purpose of the predictive study was the 20-year period of 2021 through 2040.

Estimating Spatially and Temporally Varying Recharge and Runoff from Precipitation and Urban Irrigation in the Los Angeles Basin, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | October 6th, 2016

A daily precipitation-runoff model, referred to as the Los Angeles Basin watershed model (LABWM), was used to estimate recharge and runoff for a 5,047 square kilometer st

A daily precipitation-runoff model, referred to as the Los Angeles Basin watershed model (LABWM), was used to estimate recharge and runoff for a 5,047 square kilometer study area that included the greater Los Angeles area and all surface-water drainages potentially contributing recharge to a 1,450 square kilometer groundwater-study area underlying the greater Los Angeles area, referred to as the Los Angeles groundwater-study area. The recharge estimates for the Los Angeles groundwater-study area included spatially distributed recharge in response to the infiltration of precipitation, runoff, and urban irrigation, as well as mountain-front recharge from surface-water drainages bordering the groundwater-study area. The recharge and runoff estimates incorporated a new method for estimating urban irrigation, consisting of residential and commercial landscape watering, based on land use and the percentage of pervious land area. The LABWM used a 201.17-meter gridded discretization of the study area to represent spatially distributed climate and watershed characteristics affecting the surface and shallow sub-surface hydrology for the Los Angeles groundwater study area. Climate data from a local network of 201 monitoring sites and published maps of 30-year-average monthly precipitation and maximum and minimum air temperature were used to develop the climate inputs for the LABWM. Published maps of land use, land cover, soils, vegetation, and surficial geology were used to represent the physical characteristics of the LABWM area. The LABWM was calibrated to available streamflow records at six streamflow-gaging stations. Model results for a 100-year target-simulation period, from water years 1915 through 2014, were used to quantify and evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of water-budget components, including evapotranspiration (ET), recharge, and runoff. The largest outflow of water from the LABWM was ET; the 100-year average ET rate of 362 millimeters per year (mm/yr) accounted for 66 percent of the combined water inflow of 551 mm/yr, including 488 mm/yr from precipitation and 63 mm/yr from urban irrigation. The simulated ET rate varied from a minimum of 0 mm/yr for impervious areas to high values of more than 1,000 mm/yr for many areas, including the south-facing slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, stream channels underlain by permeable soils and thick root zones, and pervious locations receiving inflows both from urban irrigation and surface water. Runoff was the next largest outflow, averaging 145 mm/yr for the 100-year period, or 26 percent of the combined precipitation and urban-irrigation inflow. Recharge averaged 45 mm/yr, or about 8 percent of the combined inflow from precipitation and urban irrigation. Simulation results indicated that recharge in response to urban irrigation was an important component of spatially distributed recharge, contributing an average of 56 percent of the total recharge to the eight LABWM subdomains containing the Los Angeles groundwater study area. The 100?year average recharge rate for the eight subdomains was 41 mm/yr, or 8,473 hectare-meters per year (ha-m/yr), with urban irrigation included in the simulation compared to a recharge rate of 18 mm/yr, or 3,741 ha-m/yr, with urban irrigation excluded. In contrast to recharge, the effect of urban irrigation on runoff was slight; runoff was 72,667 ha-m/yr with urban irrigation included compared to 72,618 ha-m/yr with urban irrigation excluded, an increase of only 48 ha-m/yr (about 0.1 percent). Simulation results also indicated that potential recharge from hilly drainages outside of, but bordering and tributary to, the lower-lying area of the Los Angeles groundwater study area, in this study referred to as mountain-front recharge, could provide an important contribution to the total recharge for the groundwater basins. The time-averaged recharge rate was similar to the combined direct and mountain-front recharge components estimated in a previous study and used as input for a calibrated groundwater model. The annual (water year) recharge estimates simulated in this study, however, indicated much greater year-to-year variability, which was dependent on year-to-year variability in the magnitude and distribution of daily precipitation, compared to the previous estimates.

Estimation of groundwater residence time with deeply-derived carbon mixture considered in California

Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) | December 16th, 2022

Groundwater has experienced long-term overdraft due to drought and human activities in California, resulting in issues of land subsidence and groundwater anthropogenic co

Groundwater has experienced long-term overdraft due to drought and human activities in California, resulting in issues of land subsidence and groundwater anthropogenic contamination. As a useful indicator of groundwater renewal rate and its residence time, groundwater age has been conventionally investigated based on 14C content and 3H concentration. However, the influence of deeply-derived (endogenic) CO2 mixture is not fully and quantitatively considered, although endogenic carbon contributes a large part of the dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater. Combined with 3H concentration, both conventional and modified 14C-dating methods with endogenic CO2 mixture considered are employed for groundwater age determination in California. On average, the conventional groundwater 14C apparent age is overestimated by ~4.9 kyr or ~26.2 %, causing groundwater recharge rate underestimation and aquifer recovery time overestimation by ~46.0 % and ~26.2 %, respectively. High 3H concentration indicates modern water mixture in more than one fifth of groundwater samples, including those with high modified 14C apparent age (> 12 kyr, i.e., fossil groundwater) in the Central Valley and southern California, which are generally considered not to be recharged by modern water. Modern water mixture in old groundwater can potentially bring anthropogenic contamination to these groundwater resources, which should be paid attentions by the government and the managers. The results have important implications in evaluation of groundwater replenishment and its susceptibility to modern contamination in California, and in groundwater resources estimation globally.

Estuary News, June 2015

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | June 15th, 2015

Evaluation of a Ground-Water Flow and Transport Model of the Upper Coachella Valley, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | June 25th, 1992

A geohydrologic data base was compiled to evaluate the changes in ground-water conditions in the upper Coachella Valley, California, since 1978, when the results of a pre

A geohydrologic data base was compiled to evaluate the changes in ground-water conditions in the upper Coachella Valley, California, since 1978, when the results of a previous ground-water-model study were published. The compiled data were analyzed to improve understanding of the ground-water flow system and the effects on water quality of an existing artificial-recharge program. Analysis of well logs indicates that several zones of differing permeability can be correlated throughout the valley. Analysis of the water-quality data suggests that the artificial recharge of Colorado River water has caused increases in dissolved solids in some wells. Sparse data indicate that the recharged water moves much more rapidly through the uppermost part of the ground-water system than through deeper parts. An evaluation of the existing ground-water simulation model of the upper Coachella Valley that was developed in the 1978 study yielded several conclusions. First, the 300- to 400-foot rise in water levels in the artificialrecharge area in 1985-86 significantly affected the groundwater flow system. Transmissivities in the model had to be increased to reflect the increase in saturated thickness. Storage-coefficient values in the model had to be increased from 0.02 (used in the previous study) to 0.10-0.15 to simulate the unconfined water-level response during this period. Second, stream-recharge and underflow rates from San Gorgonio Pass during 1979-86 seem to have been higher than the values estimated for previous studies. Conditions generally were wetter in 1979-86 than during the period in which the earlier estimates were made. Third, the flow system could be simulated more accurately if the model were extended to its true southeastern boundary, the Salton Sea. Finally, there are important vertical differences in transport of the artificially recharged water that the two-dimensional areal transport model cannot simulate. The study results indicate several additional data collection and modeling needs. The drilling of several sets of monitor wells perforated at different depths could help better define the three-dimensional flow system and waterquality differences. Additional data also are needed on underflow and stream recharge, evaporation rates and infiltration rates at the artificial-recharge facilities, and net pumpage. Three-dimensional flow and transport models are needed to evaluate the effects of ground-water development on water levels and water quality.

Evaluation of Geohydrologic Framework, Recharge Estimates, and Ground-Water Flow of the Joshua Tree Area, San Bernardino County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2004

Evaluation of Surface-Water/Ground-Water Interactions in the Santa Clara River Valley, Ventura County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | May 28th, 1999

The interactions of surface water and ground water along the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, California, were evaluated by analyzing river-discharge and water-qua

The interactions of surface water and ground water along the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, California, were evaluated by analyzing river-discharge and water-quality data and geohydrologic information collected by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1993 and 1995 for the Piru, Fillmore, and Santa Paula subbasins. Measurements of discharge and water quality were made at multiple locations along the Santa Clara River and its tributaries at eight different time periods during different releases from Lake Piru. Geologic, hydraulic, and water-quality data were collected from three new multiple-completion ground-water monitoring wells. These data, together with data collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Southern California Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) study, were analyzed in order to quantify rates and locations of ground-water recharge and discharge within the river, characterize the correlation of recharge and discharge rates with ground-water conditions and reservoir releases, and better characterize the three-dimensional ground-water flow system. Analysis of the data indicates that the largest amount of ground-water recharge from the river consistently occurs in the Piru subbasin. Some ground-water recharge from the river may occur in the upper part of the Fillmore subbasin. Increases in sulfate concentrations indicate that increases in flow at the lower ends of the Piru and Fillmore subbasins result from high-sulfate ground-water discharge. Increases in flow in the lower part of the Santa Paula subbasin are not accompanied by significant sulfate increases. Several sets of regressions indicate possible correlation between net flow changes in the river and depths to ground water and release rates from Lake Piru. These statistical relations may be of use for evaluating alternative Lake Piru release strategies. Data on the stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen from the ground-water monitoring wells that were installed as part of this investigation were used to distinguish between zones affected by recharge from the Santa Clara River and zones affected by recharge from local precipitation. Tritium data from a new multiple-completion monitoring site indicate that near the river in the upper Santa Paula subbasin, recent (post-1950) recharge water is not present at depths greater than about 350 feet below land surface. Water-level and lithologic data from the monitoring site indicate that the river and the Shallow aquifer have only limited hydraulic connection to the underlying aquifers at this location. Water-level data from the Shallow aquifer and from an in-stream drive point were used in an analytic model to estimate hydraulic properties governing stream-aquifer interactions in the upper Santa Paula subbasin. Hydraulic conductivities in all the USGS monitoring wells were estimated on the basis of slug tests.  

Evaluation of the Source and Transport of High Nitrate Concentrations in Ground Water, Warren Subbasin, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | December 13th, 2003

From early 1995 through 2001, nitrate (NO3) concentrations in ground water in the Warren subbasin, California, increased from a background concentration of 10 milligrams

From early 1995 through 2001, nitrate (NO3) concentrations in ground water in the Warren subbasin, California, increased from a background concentration of 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to more than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) water-quality maximum contaminant level of 44 mg/L (10 mg/L as nitrogen). This increase coincided with an artificial ground-water recharge program implemented by the local water district, Hi-Desert Water District (HDWD), to reverse ground-water level declines of as much as 300 ft. Major findings on ground-water quality from this study are the following: •Septage from septic tanks was the primary source of NO3 to the ground-water system. •Rising ground-water levels, resulting from the artificial-recharge program, entrained high-NO3 septage stored in the unsaturated zone. •The potential for ground-water contamination should be evaluated before beginning an artificial- recharge program in an area that uses septic tanks.

Executive Order N-4-23

State of California | March 10th, 2023

Executive Order N-7-23

State of California | May 17th, 2023