California’s Central Valley Groundwater Study: A Powerful New Tool to Assess Water Resources in California’s Central Valley

Competition for water resources is growing throughout California, particularly in the Central Valley. Since 1980, the Central Valley’s population has nearly doubled to 3.8 million people. It is expected to increase to 6 million by 2020. Statewide population growth, anticipated reductions in Colorado River water deliveries, drought, and the ecological crisis in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta have created an intense demand for water. Tools and information can be used to help manage the Central Valley aquifer system, an important State and national resource.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released results from a study on the largest water reservoir in the State of California, the Central Valley groundwater system. The findings show continued loss of stored groundwater in the southern part of the valley (see figure below). Since about 1960, groundwater has been depleted by almost 60 million acre-feet, which is, on average, enough to supply every resident of California with water for 8 years. In order to complete the study, the USGS developed an extensive, detailed three-dimensional (3D) computer model of the hydrologic system of the Central Valley (Faunt, 2009). The Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) simultaneously accounts for changing water supply and demand across the landscape, and simulates surface water and groundwater flow across the entire Central Valley.

This new hydrologic modeling tool can be used by water managers to understand how water moves through the aquifer system, predict water-supply scenarios, and address issues related to water competition in California and the Central Valley including:

• Conjunctive water use (interdependent use of surface water and groundwater);
• Conservation of agricultural land;
• Land-use change, including environmental concerns and urbanization, and its effects on water resources; and
• Effects of climate change.