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

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

Summary

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

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

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

Summary

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.

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Flood-MAR Research and Data Development Plan

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

Summary

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

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Focused groundwater recharge in the Amargosa Desert basin

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 1st, 2007

Summary

The Amargosa River is an approximately 300-kilometer-long regional drainage connecting the northern highlands on the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nev., to the floor

The Amargosa River is an approximately 300-kilometer-long regional drainage connecting the northern highlands on the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nev., to the floor of Death Valley in Inyo County, Calif. Streamflow analysis indicates that the Amargosa Desert portion of the river is dry more than 98 percent of the time. Infiltration losses during ephemeral flows of the Amargosa River and Fortymile Wash provide the main sources of ground-water recharge on the desert-basin floor. The primary use of ground water is for irrigated agriculture. The current study examined ground-water recharge from ephemeral flows in the Amargosa River by using streamflow data and environmental tracers. The USGS streamflow-gaging station at Beatty, Nev., provided high-frequency data on base flow and storm runoff entering the basin during water years 1998–2001. Discharge into the basin during the four-year period totaled 3.03 million cubic meters, three quarters of which was base flow. Streambed temperature anomalies indicated the distribution of ephemeral flows and infiltration losses within the basin. Major storms that produced regional flow during the four-year period occurred in February 1998, during a strong El Niño that more than doubled annual precipitation, and in July 1999. The study also quantified recharge beneath undisturbed native vegetation and irrigation return flow beneath irrigated fields. Vertical profiles of water potential and environmental tracers in the unsaturated zone provided estimates of recharge beneath the river channel (0.04–0.09 meter per year) and irrigated fields (0.1–0.5 meter per year). Chloride mass-balance estimates indicate that 12–15 percent of channel infiltration becomes ground-water recharge, together with 9–22 percent of infiltrated irrigation. Profiles of potential and chloride beneath the dominant desert-shrub vegetation suggest that ground-water recharge has been negligible throughout most of the basin since at least the early Holocene. Surface-based electrical-resistivity imaging provided areal extension of borehole information from sampled profiles. These images indicate narrowly focused recharge beneath the Amargosa River channel, flanked by large tracts of recharge-free basin floor.

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Geohydrology, Simulation of Regional Groundwater Flow, and Assessment of Water-Management Strategies, Twentynine Palms Area, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | June 28th, 2011

Summary

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) Twentynine Palms, California, overlies the Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins of the Morongo gr

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) Twentynine Palms, California, overlies the Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins of the Morongo groundwater basin in the southern Mojave Desert. Historically, the MCAGCC has relied on groundwater pumped from the Surprise Spring subbasin to provide all of its potable water supply. Groundwater pumpage in the Surprise Spring subbasin has caused groundwater levels in the subbasin to decline by as much as 190 feet (ft) from 1953 through 2007. Groundwater from the other subbasins contains relatively high concentrations of fluoride, arsenic, and (or) dissolved solids, making it unsuitable for potable uses without treatment. The potable groundwater supply in Surprise Spring subbasin is diminishing because of pumping-induced overdraft and because of more restrictive Federal drinking-water standards on arsenic concentrations. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the MCAGCC, completed this study to better understand groundwater resources in the area and to help establish a long-term strategy for regional water-resource development. The Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins are filled with sedimentary deposits of Tertiary age, alluvial fan deposits of Quaternary-Tertiary age, and younger alluvial and playa deposits of Quaternary age. Combined, this sedimentary sequence reaches a maximum thickness of more than 16,000 ft in the Deadman and Mesquite subbasins. The sedimentary deposits of Tertiary age yield a small amount of water to wells, and this water commonly contains high concentrations of fluoride, arsenic, and dissolved solids. The alluvial fan deposits form the principal water-bearing unit in the study area and have a combined thickness of 250 to more than 1,000 ft. The younger alluvial and playa deposits are unsaturated throughout most of the study area. Lithologic and downhole geophysical logs were used to divide the Quaternary/ Tertiary alluvial fan deposits into two aquifers (referred to as the upper and the middle aquifers) and the Tertiary sedimentary deposits into a single aquifer (referred to as the lower aquifer). In general, wells perforated in the upper aquifer yield more water than wells perforated in the middle and lower aquifers. The study area is dominated by extensive faulting and moderate to intense folding that has displaced or deformed the pre-Tertiary basement complex as well as the overlying Tertiary and Quaternary deposits. Many of these faults act as barriers to the lateral movement of groundwater flow and form many of the boundaries of the groundwater subbasins. The principal recharge to the study area is groundwater underflow across the western and southern boundaries that originates as runoff in the surrounding mountains. Groundwater discharges naturally from the study area as spring flow, as groundwater underflow to downstream basins, and as water vapor to the atmosphere by transpiration of phreatophytes and direct evaporation from moist soil. The annual volume of water that naturally recharged to or discharged from the groundwater flow system in the study area during predevelopment conditions was estimated to be 1,010 acre-feet per year (acre-ft/yr). About 90 percent of this recharge originated as runoff from the Little San Bernardino and the Pinto Mountains to the south, and the remainder originated as runoff from the San Bernardino Mountains to the west. Evapotranspiration by phreatophytes near Mesquite Lake (dry) was the primary form of predevelopment groundwater discharge. From 1953 through 2007, approximately 139,400 acre-feet (acre-ft) of groundwater was pumped by the MCAGCC from the Surprise Spring subbasin. A regional-scale numerical groundwater flow model was developed using MODFLOW–2000 for the Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins. The aquifer system was simulated by using three model layers representing the upper, middle, and lower aquifers. Measured groundwater levels for predevelopment conditions (before 1953) and for the period 1953 through 2007 were used to calibrate the groundwater- flow model. The simulated steady-state (predevelopment) recharge was about 980 acre-ft/yr; about 90 percent of the recharge was in the Mesquite subbasin. Most of the simulated steady-state discharge occurred as evapotranspiration at the Mesquite Lake (dry). A total of about 145,450 acre-ft of groundwater was simulated as being pumped from the model domain during the transient simulation period (1953–2007); about 139,400 acre-ft of the total was extracted from the Surprise Spring subbasin. The transient simulation indicates that almost all of the groundwater pumped in the Surprise Spring subbasin comes from groundwater storage, which is consistent with the measured long-term declines in groundwater levels. The calibrated groundwater model was used to evaluate the potential effects on water levels and aquifer conditions in the Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins for water-management strategies being considered by the MCAGCC to meet the projected water demand at the base for 2008–2017. One of the main objectives of the water-management strategies is to reduce pumpage from the Surprise Spring subbasin. Reducing groundwater pumpage in the Surprise Spring subbasin by about 38 percent (about 1,345 acre-ft/yr) substantially decreased or reversed simulated hydraulic-head declines in the subbasin. Redistributing about 15 percent of the 2007 groundwater pumpage (about 550 acre-ft/yr) from the Surprise Spring to the Mainside subbasin resulted in more than 60 ft of simulated declines in hydraulic head in the Mainside subbasin by 2017; however, redistributing about 22 percent of the 2007 pumpage (about 800 acre-ft/yr) from the Surprise Spring subbasin to the Deadman subbasin resulted in 5–10 ft of simulated hydraulic-head decline in the Deadman subbasin. The water-management scenarios simulated for this study demonstrate how the calibrated regional model can be utilized to evaluate the hydrologic effects of a water-management strategy.

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Geohydrology, Water Quality, and Estimation of Ground-Water Recharge In San Francisco, California, 1987-92

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | January 14th, 1993

Summary

The city of San Francisco is considering further development of local ground-water resources as a supplemental source of water for potable or non-potable use. By the y

The city of San Francisco is considering further development of local ground-water resources as a supplemental source of water for potable or non-potable use. By the year 2010, further water demand is projected to exceed the delivery capacity of the existing supply system, from which San Francisco draws most of its water. The existing system is fed by surfacewater sources; thus, supplies are susceptible to drought conditions and damage to conveyance lines by earthquakes. The primary purpose of this study is to describe local geohydrology and water quality, and to estimate ground-water recharge in the area of the city of San Francisco. Seven ground-water basins were identified in San Francisco on the basis of geologic and geophysical data. Basins on the east side of the city are relatively thin and contain a greater percentage of fine-grained sediments than those on the west side. The relatively small capacity of the basins and greater potential for contamination from sewer sources may limit the potential for ground-water development on the east side. Basins on the west side of the city have a relatively large capacity and low density sewer network. Water-level data indicate that the southern part of the largest basin on the west side of the city (Westside basin) probably cannot accommodate additional ground-water development without adversely affecting water levels and water quality in Lake Merced; however, the remainder of the basin, which is largely undeveloped, could be developed further. A hydrologic routing model was developed for estimating ground-water recharge throughout San Francisco. The model takes into account climatic factors, land and water use, irrigation, leakage from underground pipes, rainfall runoff, evapotranspiration, and other factors associated with an urban environment. Results indicate that areal recharge rates for water years 1987-88 for the seven ground-water basins range from 0.32 to 0.78 foot per year. Recharge for the Westside basin was estimated at 0.51 foot per year. Average annual ground-water recharge represents the maximum annual long-term yield of the basin. Attainable yield may be less than the volume of ground-water recharge because interception of all discharge from the basin may not be feasible without inducing seawater intrusion or causing other undesirable effects.

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Geology, Ground-Water Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Ground-Water Simulation of the Beaumont and Banning Storage Units, San Gorgonio Pass Area, Riverside County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | December 14th, 2006

Summary

Ground-water has been the only source of potable water supply for residential, industrial, and agricultural users in the Beaumont and Banning storage units of the San Gor

Ground-water has been the only source of potable water supply for residential, industrial, and agricultural users in the Beaumont and Banning storage units of the San Gorgonio Pass area, Riverside County, California. Ground-water levels in the Beaumont area have declined as much as 100 feet between the early 1920s and early 2000s, and numerous natural springs have stopped flowing. In 1961, the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA) entered into a contract with the California State Department of Water Resources to receive 17,300 acre-feet per year of water to be delivered by the California State Water Project (SWP) to supplement natural recharge. Currently (2005), a pipeline is delivering SWP water into the area, and the SGPWA is artificially recharging the ground-water system using recharge ponds located along Little San Gorgonio Creek in Cherry Valley with the SWP water. In addition to artificial recharge, SGPWA is considering the direct delivery of SWP water for the irrigation of local golf courses and for agricultural supply in lieu of ground-water pumpage. To better understand the potential hydrologic effects of different water-management alternatives on ground-water levels and movement in the Beaumont and Banning storage units, existing geohydrologic and geochemical data were compiled, new data from a basin-wide ground-water level and water-quality monitoring network were collected, monitoring wells were installed near the Little San Gorgonio Creek recharge ponds, geohydrologic and geochemical analyses were completed, and a ground-water flow simulation model was developed. The San Gorgonio Pass area was divided into several storage units on the basis of mapped or inferred faults. This study addresses primarily the Beaumont and Banning storage units. The geologic units in the study area were generalized into crystalline basement rocks and sedimentary deposits. The younger sedimentary deposits and the surficial deposits are the main water-bearing deposits in the San Gorgonio Pass area. The water-bearing deposits were divided into three aquifers: (1) the perched aquifer, (2) the upper aquifer, and (3) the lower aquifer based on lithologic and downhole geophysical logs. Natural recharge in the San Gorgonio Pass area was estimated using INFILv3, a deterministic distributed- parameter precipitation-runoff model. The INFILv3 model simulated that the potential recharge of precipitation and runoff in the Beaumont and Banning storage units was about 3,710 acre-feet per year and that the potential recharge in 28 sub-drainage basins upstream of the storage units was about 6,180 acre-feet per year. The water supply for the Beaumont and Banning storage units is supplied by pumping ground water from wells in the Canyon (Edgar and Banning Canyons), Banning Bench, Beaumont, and Banning storage units. Total annual pumpage from the Beaumont and Banning storage units ranged from about 1,630 acre-feet in 1936 to about 20,000 acre-feet in 2003. Ground-water levels declined by as much as 100 feet in the Beaumont storage unit from 1926–2003 in response to ground-water pumping of about 450,160 acre-feet during this period. Since ground-water development began in the San Gorgonio Pass area, there have been several sources of artificial recharge to the basin including return flow from applied water on crops, golf courses, and landscape; septic-tank seepage; and infiltration of storm runoff diversions and imported water into recharge ponds. Return flow from applied water and septic-tank seepage was estimated to reach a maximum of about 8,100 acre-feet per year in 2003. Owing to the great depth of water in much of study area (in excess of 150 feet), the return flow and septic-tank seepage takes years to decades to reach the water table. Stable-isotope data indicate that the source of ground-water recharge was precipitation from storms passing through the San Gorgonio Pass as opposed to runoff from the higher altitudes of the San Bernardino Mountains. In addition, these data indicate that little if any of the ground water in the fractured crystalline rocks flows across the Banning Fault into the Beaumont storage unit. Tritium concentrations indicate that little to no recharge has reached the water table since 1952 in most areas of the Beaumont and Banning storage units. In general, the uncorrected carbon-14 ages of ground water sampled from wells in the Beaumont, Banning, and surrounding storage units ranged from about 400 to 17,500 years before present. The older water was sampled in southeastern part of Beaumont storage unit and in the Banning storage unit, and ranged from 1,900 to 17,500 years before present. To better understand the dynamics of ground-water flow and the potential effects of water-level changes resulting from artificial recharge in the San Gorgonio Pass area, a regional-scale, numerical ground-water flow model was developed using MODFLOW-96. This model will be used by water managers to help manage the ground-water resources in the San Gorgonio Pass area. Results of the steady-state simulation indicate that the total inflow rate, or recharge, was about 6,590 acre-feet per year with about 3,710 acre-feet per year from areal recharge, about 2,670 acre-feet per year from mountain-front recharge, and about 210 acre-feet per year from the surrounding older sedimentary deposits. The simulated water budget for 1926–2003 indicates that of the total simulated volume of water pumped from the aquifer (450,160 acre-feet), about 50 percent was derived from depletion of ground-water storage (222,660 acre-feet), about 21 percent was derived from the reduction of underflow to the Cabazon and San Timoteo storage units (about 96,280 acre-feet), about 19 percent was derived from a reduction of ground-water outflow to the stream channels draining the San Timoteo storage unit (about 86,030 acre-feet), about 8 percent was derived from irrigation return flows and septic-tank seepage (about 36,780 acre-feet), and about 2 percent was derived from an increase in ground-water underflow from the surrounding older sedimentary deposits (about 8,410 acre-feet). The calibrated ground-water flow model was used to simulate the effects of four water-management scenarios being considered by SGPWA for the period 2004–13. In general, the results of the water-management scenarios indicate that artificial recharge in the Little San Gorgonio Creek recharge ponds primarily benefits the area north of the Cherry Valley Fault. For the scenario that used SWP water in lieu of ground water for golf course irrigation and for agricultural use, hydraulic heads increased by about 50 feet. None of the water-management scenarios significantly benefited the Banning storage unit.

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

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

Summary

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

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Glenn County | Hamilton City Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project

Nature Conservancy | January 14th, 2016

Summary

Although not designed explicitly as a groundwater recharge project, the Hamilton City Project is expected to benefit local groundwater supplies. Having an additio

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Global Recharge Data Set Indicates Strengthened Groundwater Connection to Surface Fluxes

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | November 29th, 2022

Summary

Groundwater is an invaluable global resource, but its long-term viability as a resource for consumption, agriculture, and ecosystems depends on precipitation recharging a

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

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

Flood-MAR Research and Data Development Plan

Focused groundwater recharge in the Amargosa Desert basin

Geohydrology, Simulation of Regional Groundwater Flow, and Assessment of Water-Management Strategies, Twentynine Palms Area, California

Geohydrology, Water Quality, and Estimation of Ground-Water Recharge In San Francisco, California, 1987-92

Geology, Ground-Water Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Ground-Water Simulation of the Beaumont and Banning Storage Units, San Gorgonio Pass Area, Riverside County, California

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

Glenn County | Hamilton City Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project

Global Recharge Data Set Indicates Strengthened Groundwater Connection to Surface Fluxes

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