AG ALERT: Comprehensive update to aid in managing aquifers

By Christine Souza, Ag Alert

To keep people informed about the status of groundwater, especially as the state experiences drought and climate challenges, the California Department of Water Resources last week released its California Groundwater Update 2020.

The document is a comprehensive inventory and analysis of groundwater data and information and a continuation of DWR publications, known as Bulletin 118.

“Groundwater plays a central role in sustaining our state’s ecosystems, businesses, agriculture and people, with some Californians relying solely on groundwater for drinking water,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The updated California Groundwater provides key information for the state and locals to better understand and manage groundwater as we adapt to variations in climate and navigate a historic drought.”

In the report, Nemeth adds, “This bulletin includes new data and analyses, providing pivotal information for near-term drought response and long-term groundwater planning.”

The purpose of the DWR report is to provide groundwater users, agencies, public officials and decision makers with an updated inventory and analysis of statewide conditions, use and management of groundwater. It identifies recommendations to improve groundwater management. It also focuses on water markets and impacts of climate change on groundwater, and summarizes groundwater information for each of the state’s 10 hydrologic regions.

“We are looking at the groundwater update and seeing what characterizations and conditions have changed in the state’s groundwater basins,” said Chris Scheuring, senior counsel for the California Farm Bureau. “Fundamental to the success of SGMA and to the GSP process is good information, so the updated report will help us be successful in its implementation.”

Related to the findings, the Groundwater Update 2020 lists the storage capacity of the state’s 515 groundwater basins at between 850 million acre-feet and 1,300 million acre-feet. However, less than half of the groundwater is available for use because much of it it is too deep to be pumped or of poor quality. The state’s usable groundwater storage is about eight to 12 times larger than the combined storage of all major reservoirs in California, about 50 million acre-feet, according to the document.

Groundwater had been unregulated until the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014. It requires local agencies to bring groundwater supplies into balance. It notes that periods of drought have led to excessive groundwater pumping and resulted in critically overdrafted conditions.

The report recommends that the state take the following actions:

• Advance data-driven decisions to strengthen and support long-term groundwater data collection programs at state, local and regional levels, and enable statewide sustainable groundwater management and drought response.

• Maintain momentum for sustainability, including continuing implementation of SGMA by performing regulatory oversight and monitoring progress towards achieving sustainability goals. Also, promote groundwater projects that achieve multiple benefits to reduce statewide overdraft.

• Engage, communicate and educate with a range of interested parties to communicate the value of groundwater and listen to issues, challenges and needs.

• Invest, innovate and incentivize, including secure sustained funding to support sustainable groundwater management projects and actions that will improve water resiliency, promote innovation and adoption of new technology, and work with the Legislature to create and provide nonfinancial incentives.

Related to sharing data, DWR also announced development of a web-based dashboard known as California’s Groundwater Live that leverages the California Natural Resources Agency’s Open Data Platform to improve the timeliness of statewide groundwater information and make it easily accessible for water managers and the public.

CA Groundwater 2020 Report