Category: State Government/Agency

Merced River Flood-MAR Reconnaissance Study Technical Memorandum 1 Plan of Study – Draft

February 6, 2023 No Comments

DWR, in partnership with the Merced Irrigation District (MID), is conducting a preliminary study using flood waters for managed aquifer recharge that can reduce flood risk, increase surface and groundwater supply reliability, and enhance ecosystems in the Merced River Basin. This Merced River Reconnaissance Study (study) is exploring the potential, feasibility, and effectiveness of Flood-MAR concepts, testing theories, and assessing strategies in overcoming barriers and challenges to project planning and implementation. The study will assess current conditions of the Merced River watershed and the vulnerability of these watershed management characteristics to a range of potential climate change futures. The study will also describe the public and private benefits that may be achieved through Flood-MAR strategies and quantify a range of benefits that Flood-MAR could provide in or adjacent to the Merced River watershed.

Multi-Benefit Recharge Project Methodology

February 6, 2023 No Comments

The Multi-Benefit Recharge Project Methodology Guidance Document summarizes considerations and planning that may go into designing, selecting, implementing, and monitoring a multi-benefit recharge project focused on creating suitable shorebird habitat. Projects should be customized to the specific settings and needs of each GSA in order to reach GSP sustainability goals and designed, selected, and implemented to maximize project benefits.

DWR’s SGMA Best Management Practices and Guidance Documents

February 2, 2023 No Comments

This link is a one-stop shop for DWR’s SGMA-related Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Guidance Documents to assist Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), Water Code Section 10729(d), directed DWR to “publish on its internet Web site best management practices for the sustainable management of groundwater,” by January 1, 2017. DWR developed and published 2 categories of information – Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Guidance Documents – to assist Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) with developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs).

BMPs and Guidance Documents are not substitutes for GSP Regulations or the statutory provisions of SGMA. With the exception of 2 specific BMPs addressed in the GSP Regulations (Section 352.2, Monitoring Protocols and Section 352.4, Data and Reporting Standards), SGMA and the GSP Regulations provide no direction or limitation with respect to what type of BMPs and Guidance Documents should be developed to assist GSAs with making sustainable groundwater management decisions. DWR may develop additional BMPs and Guidance Documents, or make revisions to the existing publications, as needed.

GAMA: Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program

February 2, 2023 No Comments

The State Water Board GAMA Program and the U.S. Geological Survey have created tools to help users understand groundwater quality in California. A range of online tools allow users to access data through web maps and data querying tools.

SGMA Data Viewer

February 2, 2023 No Comments

As part of DWR’s technical assistance to Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), other water managers, and the public, DWR has developed the SGMA Data Viewer. The SGMA Data Viewer provides access to groundwater-related datasets that are organized by the requirements of SGMA and the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations for the purposes of supporting GSP development and implementation.

Currently, regional and statewide groundwater information is publicly available, however this information is collected and disseminated through a variety of portals and applications. The SGMA Data Viewer provides centralized data access that will improve coordination across the State and help GSAs meet the requirements of SGMA and the GSP regulations.

This site includes historical and current data on:
Groundwater levels
Groundwater storage
Water quality
Land subsidence
Interconnected surface water
Water budgets
Hydrogeological conceptual models
Reference layers

California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

January 20, 2023 No Comments

The historic passage of SGMA in 2014 set forth a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. SGMA is comprised from a three-bill legislative package, including AB 1739 (Dickinson), SB 1168 (Pavley), and SB 1319 (Pavley), and subsequent statewide Regulations. In signing SGMA, then-Governor Jerry Brown emphasized that “groundwater management in California is best accomplished locally.”

SGMA requires local agencies to form groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) for the high and medium priority basins. GSAs develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) to avoid undesirable results and mitigate overdraft within 20 years.

DWR serves two roles to support local SGMA implementation:

1) Regulatory oversight through the evaluation and assessment of GSPs

2) Providing ongoing assistance to locals through the development of:

Best management practices and guidance
Planning assistance
Technical assistance
Financial assistance

California DWR Airborne Electromagnetic Surveys

January 18, 2023 No Comments

The Department of Water Resources is conducting airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys in California’s high- and medium-priority groundwater basins, where data collection is feasible, to assist local water managers as they implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to manage groundwater for long term sustainability.

The AEM project provides state and federal agencies, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs), stakeholders, and the public with basin-specific and cross-basin geophysical data, tools, and analyses.

The surveys are funded by voter-approved Proposition 68, Senate Bill 5, and from the general fund. More information can be found in the AEM Proposition 68 Fact Sheet.

During an AEM survey, a helicopter tows electronic equipment that sends signals into the ground which bounce back. The process has been compared to taking an MRI of the ground’s subsurface. The data collected is used to create continuous images that are interpreted for underground geology.

The resulting information will provide a standardized, statewide dataset that improves the understanding of aquifer structures. It can also help with the development or refinement of hydrogeologic conceptual models and can help identify areas for recharging groundwater.

Flood-MAR Research and Data Development Plan

September 15, 2022 No Comments

This Flood-MAR Research and Data Development Plan (R&DD Plan) presents the work of the Flood-MAR Research Advisory Committee (RAC), a multidisciplinary group of subject matter experts across 13 research themes. The RAC was tasked to identify the research, data, guidance, and tools necessary to support and expand the implementation of Flood-MAR projects. Well-formulated Flood-MAR projects can benefit Californians and the environment through improved water supply reliability, flood-risk reduction, drought preparedness, aquifer replenishment, ecosystem enhancement, subsidence mitigation, water quality improvement, working landscape preservation and stewardship, climate change adaptation, recreation, and aesthetics

Flood-MAR White Paper

September 15, 2022 No Comments

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) prepared this white paper to explore opportunities to use flood water for managed aquifer recharge (Flood-MAR) because DWR recognizes the need to rehabilitate and modernize water and flood infrastructure in California. Large-scale implementation of Flood-MAR can fundamentally change how flood and groundwater management are integrated by using 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.