By Jim Peifer, Executive Director of the Regional Water Authority
In the late 1990s, Sacramento-area water providers worked together to address an alarming, decades-long decline in the region’s groundwater supply. Today, that collaboration is producing benefits far beyond groundwater recharge.
A recently completed analysis confirms the benefits of groundwater banking—not only on the Sacramento region’s groundwater supplies but also the positive effects groundwater banking is having on our creeks and rivers. Over the last couple of decades, groundwater banking has contributed to a net increase of 14,000 acre-feet of additional baseflow every year to the lower American River.
Put simply, groundwater banking actions are providing broad local and regional benefits, including water supply reliability, support for river and ecosystem health, and sustainable groundwater supplies. By improving conditions in rivers and neighboring basins, and supporting water reliability and groundwater sustainability, this approach shows how collaborative management produces durable, multi-benefit outcomes.
Banked water provides multiple benefits
This recent analysis on the effectiveness of banked water comes from analyzing surface and groundwater conditions in the region from 1997 to 2024 and comparing the volume of water stored in the aquifer with and without these banking actions.
To do this, local water providers used the region’s existing groundwater model to run an analysis focused on how water moves between rivers, aquifers, and adjacent basins. The model, calibrated with actual water and groundwater data, demonstrates that banked water has both remained in the local aquifers and enhanced flows in connected rivers and adjacent basins. These processes convey considerable environmental benefits.
Continue reading the full post in Maven’s Notebook here.