Groundwater
Reserves
for Water Supply Security
for Water Supply Security
|
Groundwater
Reserves
for Water Supply Security |
|
| PROBLEM | PREMISE | PROPOSAL |
| How can communities adapt to more frequent and extreme droughts anticipated under climate change? | Groundwater reserves can act as important buffers during severe drought and reduce vulnerability to climate change. | Develop
targets, mechanisms and incentives for the establishment of strategic
groundwater reserves that enable communities to better adapt to
droughts. |
| “And
it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the
rich years and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” - John Steinbeck, East of Eden |
|
Background:
Vulnerability to water shortages already exists in CA due to both normal physical conditions that include high inter-annual variability in precipitation and periodic droughts, as well as to increased claims to water by more diverse interests. Climate change will exacerbate these existing vulnerabilities. In particular, it is predicted that there will be more frequent and extreme droughts. Traditional drought adaptation strategies typically focus on monitoring weather conditions, generating surface and groundwater data and implementing water shortage contingency plans after a drought occurs. Desalination, recycled water, new surface storage facilities and increased water use efficiency are commonly proposed approaches for balancing supply and demand during a drought. While these strategies can be effective, but they may also lead to a pernicious unintended consequence. An increase in supply during a dry period can prompt growth during subsequent normal periods which increase future water requirements. Moreover, long-term demand reduction can result in a hardening of demand side conservation capabilities during a future drought. The result is to actually increase a region’s vulnerability to future water shortages. We are exploring a new and proactive approach to increase a community’s resilience to future prolonged droughts, the establishment and maintenance of local strategic groundwater reserves. If, as projected by DWR, improvements to groundwater management are key strategies to generate more water to meet the state’s growing demand, then it is critical that at same time incentives be created to protect the quality and quantity of this water for future generations and to maintain a reserve for a long term drought. |
Study
Sites: selected north and central California coastal
communities
We are interested in how local stakeholders in our study sites define water supply security under conditions of climate change, including context-based metrics of safe yield, overdraft and optimal groundwater levels. We are examining the history and existing requirements to use, store and extract groundwater, as well as the physical dynamics of the local aquifers. This information will provide input into a range of potential policy options and incentives that can optimize groundwater recharge and storage and the establishment of reserves to act as buffers during future prolonged droughts. |
This
project is a
multi-year endeavor currently funded by the State
of
California Energy Commission (CEC) PIER program.  |
Funding for this project is also
provided separately by the U.S.
NOAA/CPO/SARP-Water program. 
|