Author: Website Admin

South Fork Kings GSA’s technical consultant, Geosyntec presented at the May 23 Board workshop the proposed well network to be included in the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Three locations within the SFKGSA service area have been identified. The wells at these locations are where the GSA will measure water levels to report to the State Department of Water Resources.

The wells will provide data from three separate levels in the aquifer from shallow to deep: zones A, B, and C. A-zone wells are located in the shallow perched area of the aquifer within the top 100 feet above the A Clay. The B-zone wells are below the A Clay layer and above the Corcoran Clay, the deepest clay layer. It is an unsaturated aquifer so water levels go up and down. The C-zone are wells installed below the Corcoran Clay. It is a confined aquifer so there is less variation of what is occurring in the aquifer at that level.

The network will use existing wells but will also require the drilling of additional wells to ensure adequate data is collected. Currently, there are seven existing wells in the three locations that are part of the Kings River Conservation District’s monitoring network. There is one well in the A-zone and six wells in the B-zone. Five additional wells will need to be installed to complete the network, two in the A-zone and three wells in the C-zone.

The South Fork Kings is tasked with stabilizing groundwater levels to reach sustainability under SGMA. This means reducing the near 45,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater overdraft in the GSA, an estimation calculated by the subbasin’s groundwater model. A menu of projects and management actions to reduce the groundwater overdraft was presented by the GSA’s technical consultant at the April 18th Board workshop.

A combination of supply-side and demand-side solutions will achieve sustainability. Solutions will either increase available water supply to offset groundwater pumping and/or will decrease the demand for groundwater. The technical consultants outlined specific projects and actions for consideration during these next few years of sustainability planning.

The percentages represent the proportion of overdraft each item will solve. Please note these proportions and management actions are in preliminary draft form.

On the demand side, on farm improvements in irrigation efficiency and water treatment could save an estimated 2,230 acre-feet per year. Land retirement with opt-in incentives and land repurposing, such as solar farms, could yield a savings of 1,340 acre-feet per year.

There is potential to cooperate on supply-side projects that benefit the entire subbasin. One example is cost-sharing for constructing recharge basins on especially suitable soils in surrounding GSAs. Although primarily used by municipalities, Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), a process in which water is injected into the aquifer for storage and subsequent withdrawal, is being studied for agricultural application. ASR has the potential to reduce overdraft by an estimated 10,258 acre-feet per year.

As the South Fork Kings GSA progresses with its Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), balancing SGMA compliance with economic impacts to the service area is a high priority for the Board. Developing creative solutions and adaptive management actions will ultimately drive sustainability success and secure the region’s water supply for years to come.