Category: Guidance

A Technical Framework for Increasing Groundwater Replenishment

February 6, 2023 No Comments

“A Technical Framework for Increasing Groundwater Replenishment” is a roadmap document for local agencies or groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to utilize when navigating how to develop groundwater replenishment projects. This document walks readers through the current landscape of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and provides the context that, as part of SGMA implementation, groundwater replenishment will be an important component to how sustainability is achieved under SGMA. The technical framework provides the following considerations for how to develop groundwater replenishment projects.
• Financial – scoping the capital costs, operating costs, and water supply yield and cost
• Technical – identifying the source water, infrastructure needs and constraints, method of recharge, and specific locations for direct recharge
• Institutional – developing partnerships and agreements, and navigating water rights
• Administrative – contracting, applying for permits, and securing funding

The document includes additional resources that support the development of groundwater replenishment projects, as well as case studies of entities that are piloting their own replenishment projects.

Introduction to Groundwater Recharge

February 6, 2023 No Comments

The Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States. Growers and communities, however, are faced with a future of declining groundwater quality, quantity, and availability during drought, due to overdraft. In areas where soil conditions are suitable and excess water is available, ground water recharge represents one of the most cost-effective methods to increase storage, thereby ensuring water supply and improving water quality. Through this guide, California almond growers can begin evaluating their options for addressing local sub-basin overdraft through recharge, helping secure reliable, sufficient, and drought resilient groundwater supplies.

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.

Building Multi-Benefit Recharge Basins

February 6, 2023 No Comments

As California faces an unpredictable water future, policy makers and water managers across the state are seeking solutions to build resilience into our water supply system. Groundwater recharge is an excellent tool to replenish depleted aquifers and bank water for future use. In addition to helping water managers balance their water budget, groundwater recharge also provides an opportunity to create habitat for wildlife. This guide highlights recharge basin management strategies that create wildlife habitat and provide operational benefits to basin managers.

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.

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

February 2, 2023 No Comments

This guidance provides a systematic and defensible approach to identify GDEs, determine whether potential effects on GDEs are occurring or may occur due to groundwater conditions, and consider GDEs when setting sustainable management criteria. This guidance recommends setting sustainable management criteria based on the conditions necessary to avoid adverse impacts to GDEs and undesirable results in the basin, especially where conservation of species and habitats within GDEs is required by other laws, such as the Endangered Species Act.

This document is designed to inform local decision making, consistent with SGMA’s emphasis on local control. Rather than prescribing approaches or outcomes, this guidance provides a flexible process meant to enable GSAs and stakeholders to make decisions based on the best available science in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability.

Protecting Groundwater Quality While Replenishing Aquifers

February 2, 2023 No Comments

This document represents a first step towards management guidance for on-farm recharge planners and practitioners to maximize benefits to water quality and to manage risks under AgMAR. This document is also intended to be used as a resource for communities so they can more fully participate in the GSA decision-making process.

The intent of this management brief is to build understanding of how drinking water could be affected by AgMAR and identify management considerations that can be used to design AgMAR projects that are mindful of water quality. These considerations are neither prescriptive nor meant to cover the full scope of considerations needed to implement a successful recharge project or program (i.e., analysis of soil and crop suitability, hydrogeology, water rights and availability, and conveyance infrastructure, among other topics).

Protegiendo la Calidad del Agua Subterranea Mientras se Reponen los Acuiferos

February 2, 2023 No Comments

Este documento representa un primer paso hacia la guía de manejo para los administradores y profesionales de la recarga a nivel parcela para maximizar los beneficios para la calidad del agua y manejar los riesgos bajo Ag-MAR. Este documento también está destinado a ser utilizado como un recurso para que las comunidades puedan participar más plenamente en el proceso de toma de decisiones de la GSA.

La intención de este informe de manejo es desarrollar la comprensión de cómo Ag-MAR podría afectar el agua potable e identificar las consideraciones de manejo que se pueden utilizar para diseñar proyectos Ag-MAR que tengan en cuenta la calidad del agua. Estas consideraciones no son prescriptivas ni pretenden cubrir el alcance completo de las consideraciones necesarias para implementar un proyecto o programa de recarga exitosa (es decir, análisis de cultivos adecuados de suelos y cultivos, hidrogeología, derechos y disponibilidad de agua e infraestructura de flujo, entre otros temas).

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.