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Topic: Aquifers

Overview April 24, 2014

Aquifers

An aquifer is a geologic formation that stores, transmits, and yields significant quantities of water to wells or springs.

Aquifers come in two types. Some are formed in the space between porous materials such as sand, gravel, silt or clay and are known as alluvial aquifers or unconfined aquifers. However, in many places in California, there are aquifers beneath a rock layer that does not allow water to permeate in measurable amounts. These are known as confined aquifers.

Confined aquifers under pressure are known as artesian aquifers. This pressure can push water to the surface, which when drilled are called artesian wells.

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Aquafornia news September 28, 2023 KVPR - Bakersfield

Nine years in, California’s groundwater sustainability overhaul is becoming a reality

For years, conversations about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act – known commonly as SGMA – have largely taken a tone of speculation and even apprehension. The 2014 law, which aims to slow California’s unlimited tapping of underground aquifers, gives locally organized groundwater sustainability agencies until 2042 to overhaul pumping practices for the spectrum of groundwater users — from cities and rural communities to dairies, small farms and agricultural conglomerates. Ultimately, the consequences could be dire: the non-profit Public Policy Institute of California predicted even in the best-case scenario, as much as 500,000 acres of farmland may need to be fallowed in order to adequately reduce groundwater pumping. 

Related articles: 

  • Legal Planet: An important groundwater bill lands on the governor’s desk
  • Fox 40 – Sacramento: Roseville expanding groundwater storage capacity
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Aquafornia news September 27, 2023 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Managing water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley

Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval acknowledged the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act’s (SGMA) importance to the valley in his opening remarks. … As water supplies decline, said Central Valley Community Foundation CEO Ashley Swearengin, it is key to bring all the valley’s many players to the table to hammer out coping strategies. The need for coordination is paramount, given the magnitude of the challenge. As PPIC research fellow Andrew Ayres explained, reducing groundwater pumping ultimately will help the valley maintain its robust agricultural industry and protect communities. But even with new water supplies, our research found that valley agriculture will need to occupy a smaller footprint than it does now: at least 500,000 acres of farmland will likely need to come out of intensively irrigated production.

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Aquafornia news September 25, 2023 The Fresno Bee

Commentary: San Joaquin Valley farmers face challenges in managing water

… a conference held this past week at Fresno State, “Managing water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley,” drew a large crowd of growers and water district managers. The event was sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California [PPIC], a nonpartisan group that provides analysis on key issues facing the state.The PPIC’s report on the Valley’s water situation makes clear the stakes: Even if growers do everything right, a half million acres could go out of production because of water-supply shortages. … Using water wisely while re-purposing land properly will be the key issue facing San Joaquin Valley farmers for years to come. -Written by Tad Weber, The Bee’s opinion editor.

Related article: 

  • Fresnoland: Is groundwater trading the future of California water?
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Aquafornia news September 20, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Study: Thousands of California wells are at risk of drying up despite landmark water law

Even though California enacted sweeping legislation nearly a decade ago to curb excessive agricultural pumping of groundwater, new research predicts that thousands of drinking water wells could run dry in the Central Valley by the time the law’s restrictions take full effect in 2040. The study, published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, casts critical light on how the state is implementing the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The research reveals that plans prepared by local agencies would allow for heavy pumping to continue largely unabated, potentially drawing down aquifers to low levels that would leave many residents with dry wells.

Related articles: 

  • The Fresno Bee: Opinion – Water use by San Joaquin Valley farmers closely examined
  • Phys.org: Q&A: Researcher discusses work to solve America’s groundwater crisis
  • University of Nebraska: California turns to Nebraska know-how on aquifer analysis, groundwater management
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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Legal Planet

Blog: What’s the deal with the carrot boycott in Cuyama Valley?

When California lawmakers enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, it was an effort to tame the wild, wild west of water. Nearly a decade later, there’s been some progress creating local sustainability plans, but Big Ag corporations are still hogging water and bullying smaller groundwater users. Look no further than the fight heating up in the Cuyama Valley, where small farmers and rural residents are calling for a boycott of carrots produced by a pair of big corporate growers who use a lot of water in an increasingly dry place. … The problem is that more water is being pumped from the ground than is being replenished. Cuyama Valley is one of California’s 21 over-pumped, or “critically overdrafted” basins. 

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Aquafornia news September 19, 2023 Public Policy Institute of California

Report: Managing water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley

Successful implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is vital to the long-term health of the San Joaquin Valley’s communities, agriculture, environment, and economy. But the transition will be challenging. Even with robust efforts to augment water supplies through activities like groundwater recharge, significant land fallowing will be necessary. How the valley manages that fallowing will be paramount to protecting the region’s residents—including the growers and rural, low-income communities who will be most directly impacted by the changes. With coordinated planning and robust incentives, the valley can navigate the difficult water and land transitions coming its way and put itself on a path to a productive and sustainable future.

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Aquafornia news September 18, 2023 KUER - Salt Lake City

How rural southwest Utah is proving the potential of renewable geothermal energy

There’s a new hotspot in the world of geothermal energy: a seemingly sleepy valley in Beaver County. Its secret? The valley sits on top of bedrock that reaches temperatures up to 465 degrees Fahrenheit. Joseph Moore, who manages the Utah FORGE research project, pointed across a dirt parking lot to a well being drilled at the University of Utah’s subterranean lab. … The mission of the FORGE project — which stands for Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy — isn’t to produce its own electricity. It’s to test tools and techniques through trial and error and, in the process, answer a big question: Can you pipe cool water through cracks in hot underground rock and create a geothermal plant almost anywhere?

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Aquafornia news September 15, 2023 SF Gate

Officials hold ribbon-cutting for new advanced groundwater treatment facility

Standing on top of the largest groundwater well in eastern Alameda County, and flanked by twenty-foot cream-colored water vessels, five board members of the Zone 7 Water Agency, a water wholesaler for the tri-valley, cut the ribbon on an advanced groundwater treatment facility Wednesday in Pleasanton. The new technology is called Ion Exchange, which uses positive and negative particles to remove PFAS from ground water. PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are widely used, long-lasting chemicals, the components of which break down very slowly over time. Thousands of different PFAS are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products, like hiking gear and non-stick cookware.

Related article: 

  • The Independent: Pleasanton Residents Protest Water Rate Hikes
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Aquafornia news September 13, 2023 Courthouse News Service

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California ponies up $300 million to prepare groundwater infrastructure for climate change

California will spend about $300 million to prepare a vast groundwater and farming infrastructure system for the growing impacts of climate change. California Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday that it has awarded $187 million to 32 groundwater sub-basins, which store water for future use that mainly flows from valuable snowmelt, through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program. Governor Gavin Newsom also announced Tuesday that California’s Department of Food and Agriculture will award more than $106 million in grants to 23 organizations, which will design and implement new carbon sequestration and irrigation efficiency projects. 

Related articles: 

  • SJV Water: “Immense” flow of public funds to groundwater agencies is tapering off 
  • Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom: Governor Newsom Highlights Nearly $300 Million for Sustainable Water & Farming Projects 
  • CA Department of Water Resources: DWR Awards $187 Million to Improve Sustainable Groundwater Use and Storage Statewide 
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Aquafornia news September 12, 2023 Appeal-Democrat

NorCal cattlemen concerned about groundwater acreage fee

Cattle producers who own and manage land in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, and Tehama counties are gravely concerned with the approach adopted by Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA’s) in our respective basin/counties, reports the California Farm Bureau. In each of those basins, the farm bureau claims non-extractors, or de minimis users who only pump stock water, are reportedly being assessed acreage fees by the respective GSAs to generate the funding required to comply with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Cattle producers are predominantly rangeland operations that do not use groundwater, except for watering livestock, and in fact, serve as a net recharge zone for the basins.

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Aquafornia news September 8, 2023 Western Water

Friday Top of the Scroll: New California law bolsters groundwater recharge as strategic defense against climate change

A new but little-known change in California law designating aquifers as “natural infrastructure” promises to unleash a flood of public funding for projects that increase the state’s supply of groundwater. The change is buried in a sweeping state budget-related law, enacted in July, that also makes it easier for property owners and water managers to divert floodwater for storage underground. The obscure, seemingly inconsequential classification of aquifers could have a far-reaching effect in California where restoring depleted aquifers has become a strategic defense against climate change — an insurance against more frequent droughts and more variable precipitation.

Related articles:

  • Napa Valley Register: Napa’s wine country well-drilling rules challenged in court
  • Scientific Reports: New study - Thousands of domestic and public supply wells face failure despite groundwater sustainability reform in California’s Central Valley
  • Patch: $7.6M Beaumont flood protection, water conservation project completed 
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Western Water September 7, 2023 Nick Cahill California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater By Nick Cahill

New California Law Bolsters Groundwater Recharge as Strategic Defense Against Climate Change
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: State Designates Aquifers 'Natural Infrastructure' to Boost Funding for Water Supply, Flood Control, Wildlife Habitat

Groundwater recharge in Madera CountyA new but little-known change in California law designating aquifers as “natural infrastructure” promises to unleash a flood of public funding for projects that increase the state’s supply of groundwater.

The change is buried in a sweeping state budget-related law, enacted in July, that also makes it easier for property owners and water managers to divert floodwater for storage underground.

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Aquafornia news September 6, 2023 WaterWorld

San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency planning new percolation basins

The San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA), a Southern California State Water Contractor, is planning a new set of percolation basins to support growing demand for water storage. SGPWA is planning the Brookside West Recharge Facility, which would complement the agency’s existing Brookside East Recharge Facility. Brookside West’s 62.5 acres would house approximately 25 acres of recharge ponds.  The ponds, or basins, would import water from the State Water Project and filter the water down through layers of soil and rock to be stored underground. The facility may also be used for local stormwater capture and to recharge treated reclaimed water.

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Aquafornia news September 5, 2023 KSBY - Central Coast

Cuyama Basin landowners sued by major carrot producers Grimmway, Bolthouse

Landowners in the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin have been fighting major agriculture producers, Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms, for their water rights. Everyone in the basin was on track to cut water usage until the carrot growers filed an adjudication in court against every landowner in the basin, including the school district, temporarily halting the cutback, and essentially leaving the courts with the decision on who gets water rights in the basin. The Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin was designated as one of 21 basins or subbasins in California that are in a state of critical overdraft. Local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA), agencies under the California Department of Water Resources, are responsible for creating a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) to outline how basins throughout the state will become sustainable by 2040. Those plans then get updated every five years.

Related articles: 

  • Record Gazette: Beaumont - New recharge facility promises expanded regional water supplies
  • Produce Blue Book: Commentary – Groundwater grievances
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 31, 2023 Half Moon Bay Review

District could replenish groundwater with recycled water

Earlier this month the Coastside County Water District Board of Directors workshopped ideas for bringing recycled water to Half Moon Bay. The district is in the early stages of a feasibility study that will examine whether water from various sources, including wastewater, could be used for agriculture or drinking supplies. Throughout the process, CCWD must weigh the benefits of diversifying local water sources with the costs of building expensive infrastructure. Two months ago, the board agreed to pay Water Works Engineers $299,977 to evaluate the region’s hydrogeology, implementation options and permitting feasibility. The district has applied for grants from the Division of Financial Assistance that could pay for planning and construction. 

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Aquafornia news August 31, 2023 Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Mapping farms by size in the San Joaquin Valley

As implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) proceeds, it’s no secret that the San Joaquin Valley will have to adapt to a future with less water for irrigation. Our research shows that overall irrigation supplies may decline by as much as 20% by 2040. Land uses will have to change, and some have raised concerns that SGMA’s implementation could put smaller farms at a disadvantage, given their more limited resources and capacity. To gain insight on these issues, we conducted a detailed geographical analysis of cropping patterns and water conditions by farm size on the San Joaquin Valley floor, using county real estate records on ownership of agricultural parcels (individual properties of varying sizes) to identify farms.

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Aquafornia news August 29, 2023 New York Times

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: America is draining its groundwater like there’s no tomorrow

Global warming has focused concern on land and sky as soaring temperatures intensify hurricanes, droughts and wildfires. But another climate crisis is unfolding, underfoot and out of view. Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are being severely depleted. These declines are threatening irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a whole. The New York Times conducted a months-long examination … In California, an agricultural giant and, like Arkansas, a major groundwater user, the aquifers in at least 76 basins last year were being pumped out faster than they could be replenished by precipitation, a condition known as “overdraft,” according to state numbers.

Related articles: 

  • New York Times: Five takeaways from our investigation into America’s groundwater crisis
  • New York Times: Uncharted waters 
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  • View Original Article
Western Water June 1, 2023 Nick Cahill California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater WESTERN WATER-High-Tech Mapping of Central Valley's Underground Blazes Path to Drought Resilience By Nick Cahill

High-Tech Mapping of Central Valley’s Underground Blazes Path to Drought Resilience
Aerial Surveillance Reveals Best Spots to Store Floodwater for Dry Times but Delivering the Surplus Remains Thorny

Helicopter towing an AEM loopA new underground mapping technology that reveals the best spots for storing surplus water in California’s Central Valley is providing a big boost to the state’s most groundwater-dependent communities.

The maps provided by the California Department of Water Resources for the first time pinpoint paleo valleys and similar prime underground storage zones traditionally found with some guesswork by drilling exploratory wells and other more time-consuming manual methods. The new maps are drawn from data on the composition of underlying rock and soil gathered by low-flying helicopters towing giant magnets.

The unique peeks below ground are saving water agencies’ resources and allowing them to accurately devise ways to capture water from extreme storms and soak or inject the surplus underground for use during the next drought.

“Understanding where you’re putting and taking water from really helps, versus trying to make multimillion-dollar decisions based on a thumb and which way the wind is blowing,” said Aaron Fukuda, general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, an early adopter of the airborne electromagnetic or AEM technology in California.

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Western Water February 16, 2023 Nick Cahill California Groundwater Map WESTERN WATER-California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aquifers. But When It Came, Some Couldn't Use It By Nick Cahill

California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aquifers. But When It Came, Some Couldn’t Use It
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: January storms jump-started recharge projects in badly overdrafted San Joaquin Valley, but hurdles with state permits and infrastructure hindered some efforts

An intentionally flooded almond orchard in Tulare CountyIt was exactly the sort of deluge California groundwater agencies have been counting on to replenish their overworked aquifers.

The start of 2023 brought a parade of torrential Pacific storms to bone dry California. Snow piled up across the Sierra Nevada at a near-record pace while runoff from the foothills gushed into the Central Valley, swelling rivers over their banks and filling seasonal creeks for the first time in half a decade.    

Suddenly, water managers and farmers toiling in one of the state’s most groundwater-depleted regions had an opportunity to capture stormwater and bank it underground. Enterprising agencies diverted water from rushing rivers and creeks into manmade recharge basins or intentionally flooded orchards and farmland. Others snagged temporary permits from the state to pull from streams they ordinarily couldn’t touch.

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Western Water January 13, 2023 Nick Cahill Layperson's Guide to Water Conservation WESTERN WATER-In One of the Snowiest Places in the West, A Scientist Hunts for Clues to the Sierra Snowpack’s Future By Nick Cahill

In One of the Snowiest Places in the West, A Scientist Hunts for Clues to the Sierra Snowpack’s Future
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Central Sierra Snow Lab Manager Andrew Schwartz Aims to Help Water Managers Improve Tracking of Snowpack Crucial to California's Drought-Stressed Water Supply

Photo of Andrew Schwartz, manager and lead scientist at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory.Growing up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Andrew Schwartz never missed an opportunity to play in – or study – a Colorado snowstorm. During major blizzards, he would traipse out into the icy wind and heavy drifts of snow pretending to be a scientist researching in Antarctica.  

Decades later, still armed with an obsession for extreme weather, Schwartz has landed in one of the snowiest places in the West, leading a research lab whose mission is to give California water managers instant information on the depth and quality of snow draping the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

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Western Water October 10, 2019 California Groundwater Map Gary Pitzer

Recharging Depleted Aquifers No Easy Task, But It’s Key To California’s Water Supply Future
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A UC Berkeley symposium explores approaches and challenges to managed aquifer recharge around the West

A water recharge basin in Southern California's Coachella Valley. To survive the next drought and meet the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability law, California is going to have to put more water back in the ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging overpumped aquifers is no easy task.

Successfully recharging aquifers could bring multiple benefits for farms and wildlife and help restore the vital interconnection between groundwater and rivers or streams. As local areas around California draft their groundwater sustainability plans, though, landowners in the hardest hit regions of the state know they will have to reduce pumping to address the chronic overdraft in which millions of acre-feet more are withdrawn than are naturally recharged.

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Western Water September 26, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Often Short of Water, California’s Southern Central Coast Builds Toward A Drought-Proof Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Water agencies in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo counties look to seawater, recycled water to protect against water shortages

The spillway at Lake Cachuma in central Santa Barbara County. Drought in 2016 plunged its storage to about 8 percent of capacity.The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.

Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.

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Announcement August 14, 2019

Stay Up To Date With Upcoming Groundwater Events Via Our Calendar
We track relevant tours, symposia, conferences and more for your convenience

Our event calendar is an excellent resource for keeping up with water events in California and the West.

Groundwater is top of mind for many water managers as they prepare to meet next January’s deadline for submitting sustainability plans required under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. We have several upcoming featured events listed on our calendar that focus on a variety of relevant groundwater topics:

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Western Water March 28, 2019 California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

As Deadline Looms for California’s Badly Overdrafted Groundwater Basins, Kern County Seeks a Balance to Keep Farms Thriving
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Sustainability plans required by the state’s groundwater law could cap Kern County pumping, alter what's grown and how land is used

Water sprinklers irrigate a field in the southern region of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County.Groundwater helped make Kern County the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.

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Western Water February 28, 2019 California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Flood Management Gary Pitzer

Southern California Water Providers Think Local in Seeking to Expand Supplies
WESTERN WATER SIDEBAR: Los Angeles and San Diego among agencies pursuing more diverse water portfolio beyond imports

The Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plant in Carlsbad last December marked 40 billion gallons of drinking water delivered to San Diego County during its first three years of operation. The desalination plant provides the county with more than 50 million gallons of water each day.Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.

In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)

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Western Water February 28, 2019 Groundwater Education Bundle Gary Pitzer

Imported Water Built Southern California; Now Santa Monica Aims To Wean Itself Off That Supply
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Santa Monica is tapping groundwater, rainwater and tighter consumption rules to bring local supply and demand into balance

The Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) treats dry weather urban runoff to remove pollutants such as sediment, oil, grease, and pathogens for nonpotable use.Imported water from the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on imported water.

Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s, Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.

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Western Water January 17, 2019 Layperson's Guide to the Central Valley Project San Joaquin River Restoration Map Gary Pitzer

Key California Ag Region Ponders What’s Next After Voters Spurn Bond to Fix Sinking Friant-Kern Canal
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Subsidence chokes off up to 60% of canal’s capacity to move water to aid San Joaquin Valley farms and depleted groundwater basins

Water is up to the bottom of a bridge crossing the Friant-Kern Canal due to subsidence caused by overpumping of groundwater. The whims of political fate decided in 2018 that state bond money would not be forthcoming to help repair the subsidence-damaged parts of Friant-Kern Canal, the 152-mile conduit that conveys water from the San Joaquin River to farms that fuel a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy along the east side of the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

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Western Water January 4, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.

These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.

We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:

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Western Water October 19, 2018 Klamath River Watershed Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

California Leans Heavily on its Groundwater, But Will a Court Decision Tip the Scales Against More Pumping?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Pumping near the Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate court ruling extending public trust doctrine to groundwater connected to rivers

Scott River, in Siskiyou County. In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.

Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.

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Western Water October 5, 2018 Douglas E. Beeman

What Would You Do About Water If You Were California’s Next Governor?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Survey at Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit elicits a long and wide-ranging potential to-do list

There’s going to be a new governor in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.

So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?

That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.

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Western Water May 18, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Could the Arizona Desert Offer California and the West a Guide to Solving Groundwater Problems?
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Environmental Defense Fund report highlights strategies from Phoenix and elsewhere for managing demands on groundwater

Skyline of Phoenix, ArizonaAs California embarks on its unprecedented mission to harness groundwater pumping, the Arizona desert may provide one guide that local managers can look to as they seek to arrest years of overdraft.

Groundwater is stressed by a demand that often outpaces natural and artificial recharge. In California, awareness of groundwater’s importance resulted in the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 that aims to have the most severely depleted basins in a state of balance in about 20 years.

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Western Water May 4, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Novel Effort to Aid Groundwater on California’s Central Coast Could Help Other Depleted Basins
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Michael Kiparsky, director of UC Berkeley's Wheeler Water Institute, explains Pajaro Valley groundwater recharge pilot project

Michael KiparskySpurred by drought and a major policy shift, groundwater management has assumed an unprecedented mantle of importance in California. Local agencies in the hardest-hit areas of groundwater depletion are drawing plans to halt overdraft and bring stressed aquifers to the road of recovery.

Along the way, an army of experts has been enlisted to help characterize the extent of the problem and how the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 is implemented in a manner that reflects its original intent.

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Aquapedia background September 12, 2016

Runoff

Snowmelt and runoff near the California Department of Water Resources snow survey site in the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento.Runoff is the water that is pulled by gravity across land’s surface, replenishing groundwater and surface water as it percolates into an aquifer or moves into a river, stream or watershed.

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Aquapedia background September 8, 2016

Springs

Springs are where groundwater becomes surface water, acting as openings where subsurface water can discharge onto the ground or directly into other water bodies. They can also be considered the consequence of an overflowing aquifer. As a result, springs often serve as headwaters to streams.

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2014

Overdrawn at the Bank: Managing California’s Groundwater
January/February 2014

This printed issue of Western Water looks at California groundwater and whether its sustainability can be assured by local, regional and state management. For more background information on groundwater please refer to the Founda­tion’s Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2013

Nitrate and the Struggle for Clean Drinking Water
March/April 2013

This printed issue of Western Water discusses the problems of nitrate-contaminated water in small disadvantaged communities and possible solutions.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2011

Preserving Quantity and Quality: Groundwater Management in California
May/June 2011

This printed issue of Western Water examines groundwater management and the extent to which stakeholders believe more efforts are needed to preserve and restore the resource.

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Western Water Magazine July 1, 2010

Saving it For Later: Groundwater Banking
July/August 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines groundwater banking, a water management strategy with appreciable benefits but not without challenges and controversy.

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Western Water Magazine September 1, 2012

Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Quality: A Cause for Concern?
September/October 2012

This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the Groundwater Resources Association of California.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an excellent overview of climate change and how it is already affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are underway to plan and adapt to climate.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Water Cycle Poster

Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants, rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation. Excellent for elementary school classroom use.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014 Groundwater Education Bundle

California Groundwater Map
Redesigned in 2017

California Groundwater poster map

Fashioned after the popular California Water Map, this 24×36 inch poster was extensively re-designed in 2017 to better illustrate the value and use of groundwater in California, the main types of aquifers, and the connection between groundwater and surface water.

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Publication May 20, 2014 California Groundwater Map

Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater
Updated 2017

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication that provides background and perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the history of its use in California.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law
Updated 2020

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of California water rights.

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