
Flooding vineyards and increasing groundwater recharge, Terranova Ranch, near Fresno, California, diverts water from a full flood-control channel.
(Image credit: Courtesy Terranova Ranch Inc.)
Using a new computer framework, scientists are able to project future floodwaters under a changing climate. The approach could help California water managers plan for and redirect floodwaters toward groundwater aquifers, alleviating both flood and drought risks
Floodwaters are not what most people consider a blessing. But they could help remedy California’s increasingly parched groundwater systems, according to a new Stanford-led study. The research, published in Science Advances, develops a framework to calculate future floodwater volumes under a changing climate and identifies areas where investments in California’s aging water infrastructure could amplify groundwater recharge. As the state grapples with more intense storms and droughts, stowing away floodwaters would not only reduce flood risks but also build more water reserves for drier times.
“This is the first comprehensive assessment of floodwater recharge potential in California under climate change,” said study lead author Xiaogang He, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at the National University of Singapore who pursued the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Program on Water in the West.
Whether it’s rivers overflowing in the Central Valley flatlands, high-tide storms hitting lowland coastal areas, flash floods drenching southern deserts or impermeable concrete-laden cities pooling with water, California is susceptible to flooding. Alternately, looming droughts often raise concern about water supply, as diminished groundwater sinks land, contaminates drinking water and reduces surface supplies. These declining reserves also hamper climate resilience – during periods of drought up to 60 percent of the state’s water comes from groundwater and 85 percent of Californians depend on the resource for at least a portion of their water supply.
Water banking
As climate change intensifies the severity and frequency of these extreme events, amplifying refill rates could help the state reach a more balanced groundwater budget. One practice, called water banking or managed aquifer recharge, involves augmenting surface infrastructure, such as reservoirs or pipelines, with underground infrastructure, such as aquifers and wells, to increase the transfer of floodwater for storage in groundwater basins.
A newer strategy for managing surface water, compared to more traditional methods like reservoirs and dams, water banking poses multiple benefits including flood risk reduction and improved ecosystem services. While groundwater basins offer a vast network for water safekeeping, pinpointing areas prime for replenishment, gauging infrastructure needed and the amount of water available remains key, especially in a warming and uncertain climate.
“Integrating managed aquifer recharge with floodwaters into already complex water management infrastructure offers many benefits, but requires careful consideration of uncertainties and constraints. Our growing understanding of climate change makes this an opportune time to examine the potential for these benefits,” said senior author David Freyberg, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.
The researchers designed a framework to estimate future floodwater availability across the state. Developing a hybrid computer model using hydrologic and climate simulations and statistical tools, the team calculated water available for recharge under different climate change scenarios through 2090. They also identified areas where infrastructure investments should be prioritized to tap floodwater potential and increase recharge.
Future floodwaters
The team found California will experience increased floodwater from both heavier rain patterns and earlier snowmelt due to warmer temperatures, under a narrowing window of concentrated wet weather. In particular, the Sacramento River and North Coast, along with the northern and central Sierra Nevada region, will see more substantial floodwater volumes. These deluges could overload current water infrastructure, such as reservoirs and aqueducts. However, if the region is standing ready with additional floodwater diversion infrastructure, such as canals or pipelines, it could maximize recharge potential and transfer more of it toward arid Southern California.
Future projections find unchanging or in some cases even drier conditions in Southern California. This widening divide is bad news for the region, which currently has greater groundwater depletion and recharge needs than its northern counterpart. This mismatch of water abundance and need reveals a profound challenge for recharge practices, in terms of moving high volumes of water from where it will be available in Northern California to where it will be needed southward.
The researchers also found recharge estimates for the San Joaquin Valley – one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions – could help restock a large portion of depleted groundwater aquifers. Sitting at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, this region will need to accommodate larger volumes of water both above and below the surface in order to maximize refill potential. Water managers will need to expand conveyance projects and reopen reservoirs there.
While climate impacts are the most dominant influence, the researchers point out that other factors, including infrastructure capacity, policy constraints, financial and environmental concerns must be jointly considered during the planning process.
The study’s framework is adaptable and scalable for managing drought, flood and depleted groundwater aquifers worldwide.
“At the global scale only 1 percent of groundwater recharge occurs from managed aquifer recharge,” He said. “This work can be applied to help other depleted aquifers, such as the North China Plain or India’s Upper Ganges, reach and maintain sustainable groundwater levels.”
Original Article: A Stanford-designed tool could guide floodwater management and combat ongoing drought
More from: Stanford University | National University of Singapore
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Water banking
- ADB approves USD 200 million boost to enhance water supply and sanitation in Uttarakhand
The Asian Development Bank ADB has greenlit an additional financing injection of USD 200 million for the Uttarakhand Integrated and Resilient Urban Developmen ...
- When is a loan not a loan? Thames Water edition
Plus, the surreal reason why a Brookfield-led bid to buy Origin Energy was rejected, and the spicy story behind Gymkhana’s buyout investor ...
- Thames Water warns overhaul will ‘take time’ as debts mount and profits slump
Troubled utility giant Thames Water has cautioned that its turnaround will “take time” as it revealed profits more than halving and its debt pile mounting further. The group reported a 54% drop in pre ...
- COP28: Malawi Water Minister Abida Mia lauds ADB on Songwe River Basin support
DUBAI-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Water and Sanitation Mister Abida Mia has lauded the African Development Bank (ADB) for financial support towards the construction of the Songwe River Basin, a multi-purpose ...
- Establishing water as an asset class
The challenges posed by water scarcity and climate change require innovative solutions that transcend traditional funding mechanisms. Part of the answer lies in establishing water as an asset class, a ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Water banking
[google_news title=”” keyword=”water banking” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Managed aquifer recharge
- Murray–Darling Basin 10.8 Managed aquifer recharge – private user
The volumetric value for the line item for the 2011–12 year was 2,340 ML. The line item comprises of managed aquifer recharge volumes from Angas Bremer (Quaternary sediments and Murray Group limestone ...
- California Farm Bureau: Floodwaters on Farms Help Boost Aquifers
Flood-managed aquifer recharge, or flood-MAR, takes place at a 40-acre beardless barley field in Madera County after this year’s atmospheric storms. Chowchilla farmer Mark Hutson said he received a ...
- California Flood Aquifer Recharge and Ag Export Values Decline
California’s historically wet winter early this year motivated greater adoption of a water management strategy known as flood-managed aquifer recharge, or flood-MAR, in which excess flood waters are ...
- Flow modelling of the managed aquifer recharge areas / University of Queensland Surat Deep Aquifer Appraisal Project (UQ-SDAAP)
You can order a copy of this work from Copies Direct. Copies Direct supplies reproductions of collection material for a fee. This service is offered by the National Library of Australia ...
- Rebates Approach Offers Viable Solution for Addressing Groundwater Challenges
A new program aims to address groundwater depletion in California through incentivizing Managed Aquifer Recharge. A study by UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley researchers, published in Nature Water, ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Managed aquifer recharge
[google_news title=”” keyword=”managed aquifer recharge” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]