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A state analysis released Tuesday shows that average annual rainfall has provided a significant boost to California’s groundwater supply.
The California aquifer acquired an estimated 2.2 million acre feet of groundwater in the 12 months ended September 30th, the 2024 water year. That’s about half the storage capacity of Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir.
State officials said local agencies reported that about 1.9 million acres of water have been underground as a result of a managed aquifer charging project designed to capture stormwater and replenish groundwater.
A boost to underground supply occurred while the state implemented water-saving programs and regulations that help to curb chronic excess pumping in agricultural areas of the central valley.
According to state estimates, the amount of groundwater refill in the 2024 Water Year was less than 8.7 million acre feet that permeated underground in the 2023 extremely wet 2023 Water Year.
Even as California attempts to acquire more stormwater to recharge its groundwater, pumping to provide agriculture continues to raise underground supply.
The groundwater report prepared by the state’s Department of Water Resources said about 11.5 million acre feet of groundwater have been pumped into 98 watersheds, based on data from local agencies that submitted the annual report. This is up from the 9.7 million acres reported in the previous year.
Central Valley accounts for more than 84% of the statewide groundwater extraction, with most of its water being used to supply farmland in the valley.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said California is collecting more groundwater data than before and continues to prioritize efforts to recharge aquifers. However, he said the state’s water infrastructure is not ready for the impacts of climate change and repeatedly gave his support to build a water tunnel under Sacramento’s Joaquin River Delta.
“We’ve finished the barrier,” Newsom said in a statement. “We must modernize our water infrastructure.”
The proposed delta hauling project, which has an estimated price of $20.1 billion, has created intense debate. Advocates say the proposed project is essential to modernizing the state’s water infrastructure and maintaining the reliability of supply from the state’s water projects. Opponents say it unnecessarily harms the delta’s worsening ecosystem, threatens fish species, and significantly increases water costs for the public.
When they released the numbers, state officials said efforts to address the excess groundwater pumping were helped by a state program called Landflex. It will provide $23.3 million in grants to local groundwater agencies, allowing dozens of small and medium-sized farms to take steps to strengthen groundwater levels.
State estimates show that the program helped save more than 100,000 acre feet of groundwater by reducing pumps. The Ministry of Water Resources said the program is also helping to redirect floods to flood farmland and recharge groundwater.
Division Director Carla Nemes calls it a “climate-sensitive solution” not only for farmers but also for local water management agencies.
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