Friday June 14, 2024
SF Gate —
The good news is that the San Joaquin Valley has managed to store a little more groundwater since the drought of 2016. The bad news is that it is hard to keep account of what’s working and what’s not.
On Tuesday, the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit policy research organization, released an update report on the replenishment of groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley, one of the areas of the state that is heavily dependent on groundwater. The report also identified those basins best suited to accept water recharge operations, with the highest number being in the eastern and southern regions of the valley.
In late 2023, following a very wet winter and spring, the institute surveyed recharge activities in local water agencies. Recharge occurs when water enters the ground to replenish underground aquifers. Their findings were compared to those in a similar survey in 2017, a year with similar levels of precipitation.
They found a 17% increase in the total water volume that was recharged in the valley, including areas that use only groundwater.