Can California’s floods help recharge depleted groundwater supplies? – Science.org, 1/24/23 – The drenching storms that hit California in recent weeks represented a long-sought opportunity for Helen Dahlke, a groundwater hydrologist at the University of California, Davis. Dahlke has been studying ways to recharge the state’s severely depleted groundwater by diverting swollen rivers into orchards and fields and letting the water seep deep into aquifers. But carrying out such plans requires heavy precipitation—which had been scarce.
When Did the California Drought Start? – Newsweek, 1/24/23 – After weeks of torrential rain, California’s persistent drought is beginning to ease. “California has been in dry conditions for much of the last 10 years, with only two years of wet,” Jeff Mount, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center, previously told Newsweek.
Is the Drought Over? Reflections on California’s Recent Flood-Drought Combo – California Water Blog, 1/22/23 – Early January was an unusually wild ride of atmospheric rivers. Nine sizable systems produced a train of storms beginning about New Years and lasting for several weeks across almost all of California. After three years of drought, the storms reminded us that California has flood problems similar in magnitude to its drought problems, and that floods and droughts can occur in synchrony. As the dust begins to settle, let’s look at the impacts of these early January floods and examine if the recent three-year drought and its longer-term drought impacts might be ending.
How will California’s water storage hold up in future dry-wet cycles? – Cap Radio, 1/19/23 – California’s recent storms have brought record amounts of precipitation but have also revived a perennial debate at the state Capitol over water storage and management. While the recent series of atmospheric rivers led to catastrophic flooding in parts of the state and broke some precipitation records, climate scientists say the state’s regular wet and dry cycles will only become more extreme in the future due to a warming climate.
Registration Open: 2nd Stakeholder Forum for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank – RWA, 1/18/23 – Please join the Regional Water Authority (RWA) for the second Stakeholder Forum for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank, a groundwater storage program that utilizes the reservoir under our feet for storing water during wet times for use during dry times.
New project trying to save California’s storm water from being flushed out to ocean – ABC10, 1/19/23 – Managing floodwater in big storms but saving enough for the dry season is a constant battle. But in the Turlock area, there might be an answer.
The Key to California’s Survival Is Hidden Underground – Wired, 1/13/23 – The state is ping-ponging between severe drought and catastrophic flooding. The solution to both? Making the landscape spongier.
Heavy rain is still hitting California. A few reservoirs figured out how to capture more for drought – NPR, 1/11/23 – Despite several weeks of torrential rain and flooding, California is still facing a severe multi-year drought. That has many people thinking about how to better capture winter floodwaters to last through the dry season.
Roseville using aquifer storage to retain excess water from storms – CBS13, 1/6/23 – With each storm, there’s a similar question as area reservoirs release excess water: why are we getting rid of what we need?
Recording and Presentation Posted for the First Water Bank Stakeholder Forum – RWA, 10/27/22 – The first Stakeholder Forum explored key topic areas such as water sources and management in the Sacramento region; projected impacts of climate change on the region’s water resources; how water banking works; how a Water Bank could help the region adapt to climate change; and other topics.
RWA Initiates Public Engagement Process for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank – RWA, 9/27/22 – The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is launching a public engagement process for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank, a groundwater storage program utilizing the expansive reservoir under the urban core for storing water during wet times for use during dry times. The Water Bank is identified as one of several key strategies for addressing the projected impacts of climate change on local water supplies in the newly-released American River Basin Study produced by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in partnership with local water agencies.
Recording and Materials Posted for Webinar on American River Basin Study Impacts and Strategies – RWA, 9/21/22 – The recording and fact sheet have been posted for the webinar: The American River Basin Study: Climate Change Impacts and Strategies for Addressing the Weather Extremes that Threaten our Water Supplies, Flood Protection and Environment, a special virtual briefing for policymakers and decision-makers, recorded on September 21, 2022.
Study Details Climate Change Impacts and Strategies for Addressing Future Water Demands, Flood Risks, and Environmental Impacts – RWA, 8/31/22 – The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released a long-awaited study that identifies future climate and hydrology projections and outlines gaps between water supplies and projected urban and agricultural demands in the American River Basin.
Groundwater beneath Sacramento Valley offers hope in dry times – Maven’s Notebook, 8/9/22 – By Jim Peifer and David Guy – As another serious drought grips California, we are again confronted with hard truths. One is this: California needs more water storage during these challenging years. This simple fact becomes clearer each year with more extreme weather—both droughts and floods. Prolonged dry periods like this are expected to become more frequent with climate change. So, we must tackle a difficult question: How to store more water in a 21st-century way with 21st-conditions?
Water Providers Receive $10.3 Million in Grants to Boost Groundwater Banking, Resiliency to Drought – RWA, 3/27/22 – The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced the award of over $10.3 million in grant funding for two Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) groundwater wells that allow water providers to add treated water into the groundwater aquifer during wet times, store that water underground for weeks, months or even years, and extract it during dry times.
SAC BEE EDITORIAL: If the Sierra snowpack vanishes as feared, California will need ideas like this for water – Sacramento Bee, 2/2/22 – Sacramento — which once only had to worry about seasonal floods — now worries each year about delivering water to its citizens in a hotter and drier California. But there is a way for Sacramento to capture rain and snow, and for the broader region to keep surface reservoirs like Folsom and Oroville lakes nearly full. This same technique could help Sacramento capture enough water to share with neighboring areas in dry years, as well as to store it when we need it most. It’s called groundwater banking. The need for it will only become more urgent as the Sierra snowpack starts to disappear.
