Water
Sustainability boost
Almonds potential role in
recharging groundwater?
A
s in South Africa, in California,
extremely dry conditions are prompting
innovation and an ethos of water
saving, until regular rain returns.
The ongoing drought and new state laws focused on the
sustainable use of local groundwater resources have put
increased emphasis on groundwater in California, says the
Almond Board of California (ABC).
Indeed, the ABC has launched a multi-tier effort to examine
the potential role almond orchards might play in recharging
groundwater aquifers in the Central Valley. Dwindling surface
water supplies and delayed prospects for constructing new
above-ground storage have renewed focus on the potential of
underground aquifers to increase water storage and available
water supplies.
Access
In the California Almonds outlook the ABC says that the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, passed in fall
2014, will lead to the development of locally managed
groundwater sustainability plans that could fundamentally
change whether and to what degree California growers can
access groundwater.
Recent groundwater pumping levels in excess of natural and
managed recharge have caused historically low groundwater
levels in many regions of California. Notably, a large portion
of the state’s almond-growing regions is located within
groundwater basins deemed “significantly over-drafted.”
According to the ABC: “Early research in alfalfa by UC Davis
shows that farmland may be used to successfully replenish
groundwater. Solidifying its focus on this area, the Almond
Board is partnering with Sustainable Conservation and investing
in field research to determine the feasibility of using California
Almond acreage as locations for groundwater recharge when
excess water is available, primarily from flood releases during
winter storms and peak snowpack runoff.
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SABI | DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016
Conservation
“Sustainable Conservation is a non-profit conservation
organization that works with growers in California to find
innovative solutions to complicated environmental issues.
Sustainable Conservation has several years of experience
working with growers on the potential for using seasonal flood
flows on working farmland to recharge underground aquifers.
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