The Public Policy Institute of California, in partnership with the California Water Institute at Fresno State, hosted an event on campus Sept. 20 to share the findings of its report, “Managing Water and Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley.”
According to the report, the success of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act relies on accelerating farmland repurposing efforts. This includes alternative land uses like solar development, water-limited cropping, water-efficient new housing, habitat restoration and recharge basins.
The report also highlights the importance of investing in water infrastructure to expand recharge efforts.
“Diverting excess runoff to groundwater recharge sites throughout the region in a coordinated manner will diminish flood peaks, thereby reducing damage to communities and increasing groundwater levels, which will sustain domestic and agricultural uses during droughts.”
—Cordie Qualle
Dedicated recharge basins could bring multiple benefits, like maximizing flood waters in wet years, raising groundwater levels beneath groundwater-dependent disadvantaged communities, and possibly improving water quality, according to Fresno State water experts.
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-10-23 in August to reduce the risks of catastrophic flooding in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, the Tule Lake Basin and its tributaries (including the Kings River, Tule River and Kern River) and on the Central Coast.
The order is intended to streamline the repair or replacement of levees and weirs and restore channel capacity and other flood-control infrastructure. The governor has issued several executive orders this year to address drought conditions and mitigate flooding after a series of winter storm events pummeled the state.
Laura Ramos, interim director of the California Water Institute’s Research and Education Division, said the repair and restoration of existing conveyance and flood control infrastructure is […]
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