Question: What is the relationship between Harvest Water and the Sacramento Regional Water Bank?

Harvest Water and the Sacramento Regional Water Bank (Water Bank) share a common objective of replenishing groundwater resources to benefit both people and the environment of the Sacramento region. However, their scopes differ significantly.

Harvest Water is California’s largest water recycling project producing water for agriculture. Managed by the Sacramento Area Sewer District (SacSewer), Harvest Water uses advanced wastewater treatment to produce high-quality recycled water for delivery to farms, ranches, and rural landscapes in southern Sacramento County, overlying the South American Subbasin. Learn more at SacHarvestWater.com.

Harvest Water is currently under construction, and when fully operational in 2027, will supply up to 50,000 acre-feet of reliable recycled water annually—equivalent to 24,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools—to irrigate over 16,000 acres of agricultural land. This shift from surface water will allow the groundwater aquifer to recover naturally through in-lieu recharge, boosting the area’s groundwater levels by up to 35 feet within 15 years.

By improving groundwater conditions, Harvest Water will sustain over 5,000 acres of riparian and wetland habitats and 3,500 acres of Sandhill crane habitat, increase stream flows in the Cosumnes River to support Chinook salmon, and enhance habitats for a variety of additional listed species such as the Swainson’s hawk and Giant garter snake. The ecosystem benefits that Harvest Water will deliver are defined in a funding agreement with the State of California, which provides $291.8 million in funding to make Harvest Water a reality. Those benefits are rooted in raising groundwater levels in the program area.

Both Harvest Water and the Water Bank rely on in-lieu recharge to enhance groundwater levels, but they differ in their source water and location of recharge. Harvest Water provides recycled water to irrigate agricultural lands and enhance existing habitats overlying the South American Subbasin, while the Water Bank capitalizes on excess water from rain and snowmelt to serve municipal water customers overlying both the North American and South American Subbasins.

Importantly, both projects will use an accounting system for tracking water deposited and withdrawn from the groundwater aquifers.

SacSewer will track recycled water deliveries and use a monitoring well network within the Harvest Water service area to track progress toward realizing project benefits associated with increased groundwater levels. Approximately 20 years after recycled water deliveries begin, once the groundwater levels recover and the basin is in sustainable excess, a portion of the groundwater stored in the basin could be available in the future for potential groundwater accounting partners, such as growers and local municipalities to use in dry years instead of fallowing land or enduring shortages. This volume of stored water available for future extraction is limited to no more than 30 percent of the total in-lieu recharge. This leaves at least 70 percent of the recharged water in the aquifer to benefit habitat and streamflow, which is a primary objective of Harvest Water. The Water Bank is also implementing an accounting system, and the two projects are coordinating on common methods and approaches to accounting.  Both Harvest Water and the Water Bank are committed to the principle that more water must be deposited into the aquifers than is withdrawn.

Both projects will be managed consistent with the Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP) developed in the North American and South American Subbasins and will play a vital role in the continued sustainable management of the aquifers under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Of note, Harvest Water is a Project and Management Action specified in the Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the South American Subbasin, and thereby, is being relied upon by the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to assist in meeting their ongoing objectives outlined in the Plan. Both projects are identified in South American GSP, and the Water Bank also identified in the North American Subbasin GSP as a Project and Management Action.

Together, Harvest Water and the Water Bank exemplify a multifaceted approach to water stewardship, bridging the gap between agricultural and urban water needs while championing environmental sustainability.