Researchers have been studying ways to recharge California’s severely depleted groundwater by diverting swollen rivers into orchards and fields. But carrying out such plans requires heavy precipitation, which had been scarce—until this week.
The drenching storms that hit California in recent weeks represented a long-sought opportunity for Helen Dahlke, a groundwater hydrologist at the University of California, Davis. Dahlke has been studying ways to recharge the state’s severely depleted groundwater by diverting swollen rivers into orchards and fields and letting the water seep deep into aquifers. But carrying out such plans requires heavy precipitation—which had been scarce.
Over the past decade, Dahlke’s experiments with submerging small plots have suggested intentional flooding can replenish aquifers without damaging either groundwater quality or crops. But she says bureaucratic hurdles and organizational inertia have blocked widespread use of the practice—despite state laws and policies designed to encourage it.
Four years later, California adopted a landmark law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act , that promotes the practice. It requires farmers to treat aquifers like bank accounts, clamping down on overdrafts but also allowing those who deposit water into them to make bigger withdrawals later. But several obstacles have stood in the way of recharge projects, experts say. Some districts need state permits and getting them is time-consuming. The SGMA’s limits on extraction are only kicking in now, so farmers haven’t had much incentive to spend the money required to flood their fields. “If you’ve chosen to somewhat ignore this law, you’ve been able to,” says Sarah Woolf, a water consultant and farmer.
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