After each basin obtained a rank value, the basin rankings were divided into four ranges to identify the threshold under which a basin would be identified as very low, low, medium, or high priority. The resulting thresholds (Figure 5) were used to classify each basin into very low, low, medium, or high priority. Figure 5. Table used to classify each groundwater basin and subbasin as high, medium, low or very low priority (DWR 2014b).
From the CASGEM Groundwater Basin Prioritization Process it was determined that 43 groundwater basins are in high priority, 84 basins in medium priority, 27 basins in low priority, and the remaining basins from the 515 that exist were classified as low priority as of May 2014 (DWR 2014b). Of the basins classified …show more content…
California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation into law during September of 2014 as an attempt to manage California’s groundwater for the first time in history. Through this legislation, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the DWR have established a timeline with deadlines to comply with SGMA. By June of 2017, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) will need to form and provide groundwater sustainability plans (GSP) by the year 2020 or 2022 for groundwater basins that were classified as medium or high priority respectively (Christian-Smith and Abhold 2015). Once the GSP has been approved, the GSA may implement it and strive to maintain or achieve groundwater sustainability by the year 2040 or 2042 (Christian-Smith and Abhold 2015). A groundwater basin will have reached sustainability if it has avoided the six undesirable results listed by DWR. A sustainable groundwater basin will: (1) not have chronic lowering of the groundwater table, (2) not have a reduction in groundwater storage, (3) not experience seawater intrusion, (4) not experience degradation of water quality, (5) not experience land subsidence, and (6) not have depletion in groundwater/surface water interactions (DWR …show more content…
The Arroyo Seco Watershed is located in Southern California in which its water sources come from precipitation, imported water (the Eastern Sierra Nevada, the Colorado River, and the Sacramento River), and the Raymond Basin (Brick 2003). The water budget created for the Arroyo Seco Watershed was developed using a spreadsheet model that included data available for precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and water supply studies and plans for the region from agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (Brick 2003). For the water budget, the water inflows considered included imported water supplies, septic tank recharge, recharge from applied water, and precipitation. For the water outflows, the items considered included surface water diversions, outflow to the Los Angeles River, water production and sales, subsurface flow, and evapotranspiration. By quantifying all of the water inflows and outflows of the Arroyo Seco Watershed the interaction between the water sources and water demands could be evaluated to generate a preliminary understanding of the area. Ultimately, with the creation of the water budget, a tool was built that created awareness in the community of each component of the hydrologic cycle while
From the CASGEM Groundwater Basin Prioritization Process it was determined that 43 groundwater basins are in high priority, 84 basins in medium priority, 27 basins in low priority, and the remaining basins from the 515 that exist were classified as low priority as of May 2014 (DWR 2014b). Of the basins classified …show more content…
California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation into law during September of 2014 as an attempt to manage California’s groundwater for the first time in history. Through this legislation, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the DWR have established a timeline with deadlines to comply with SGMA. By June of 2017, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) will need to form and provide groundwater sustainability plans (GSP) by the year 2020 or 2022 for groundwater basins that were classified as medium or high priority respectively (Christian-Smith and Abhold 2015). Once the GSP has been approved, the GSA may implement it and strive to maintain or achieve groundwater sustainability by the year 2040 or 2042 (Christian-Smith and Abhold 2015). A groundwater basin will have reached sustainability if it has avoided the six undesirable results listed by DWR. A sustainable groundwater basin will: (1) not have chronic lowering of the groundwater table, (2) not have a reduction in groundwater storage, (3) not experience seawater intrusion, (4) not experience degradation of water quality, (5) not experience land subsidence, and (6) not have depletion in groundwater/surface water interactions (DWR …show more content…
The Arroyo Seco Watershed is located in Southern California in which its water sources come from precipitation, imported water (the Eastern Sierra Nevada, the Colorado River, and the Sacramento River), and the Raymond Basin (Brick 2003). The water budget created for the Arroyo Seco Watershed was developed using a spreadsheet model that included data available for precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and water supply studies and plans for the region from agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (Brick 2003). For the water budget, the water inflows considered included imported water supplies, septic tank recharge, recharge from applied water, and precipitation. For the water outflows, the items considered included surface water diversions, outflow to the Los Angeles River, water production and sales, subsurface flow, and evapotranspiration. By quantifying all of the water inflows and outflows of the Arroyo Seco Watershed the interaction between the water sources and water demands could be evaluated to generate a preliminary understanding of the area. Ultimately, with the creation of the water budget, a tool was built that created awareness in the community of each component of the hydrologic cycle while