Policy and Technical Challenges to Streamlining Groundwater

Recycled Water
Managed Aquifer Recharge
in California
Segunda Jornada Technicas sobre la
Recarga Artificial de Acuiferos
y Reuso De Agua
Torre de Ingeneria, UNAM, Mexico D.F.
28 y 29 de agosto de 2013
Timothy Kevin Parker, Parker Groundwater
Director, Groundwater Resources Association of California
Director, California Groundwater Coalition
Director, American Ground Water Trust
Public Advisory Committee – California Water Plan
Groundwater Caucus Chair - California Water Plan
Presentation Overview
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California setting and current efforts
Drivers for increasing recycled water use
Recycled water policy
Case studies – WRD & OCWD
Summary & Conclusions
California
Setting
18,500 Mm3
PPIC 2011
Basins with Chronic
Groundwater Level
Declines
DWR Bulletin 118-75
September 1975
Storage Loss 60 M acre-feet/74,000 Mm3
USGS Professional Paper 1766
Water from the Water-Rich North to the
Water-Poor South Goes Through…..
The Delta (estuary)
1100 mi/1770 km of water ways
2/3 state’s drinking water
Water from the Water-Rich North to the
Water-Poor South Goes Through…..
The Delta
In Crisis
Ecology
Subsidence
Climate Change
Earthquakes
Water from the North to the
South Would Go Through…..
The Tunnels
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Length 30mi/48km
Three Sacramento River intakes
Capacity 9,000cfs/255m3s
Modify/optimize Clifton Forebay
Current Significant Efforts in California
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Delta Stewardship Council and Delta Plan
Bay Delta Conservation Plan
California Water Plan Update 2013
Statewide Water Action Plan
– (or “Water Vision”)
• 2014 Water Bond
Groundwater Management
Is California still the Wild West?
• Surface Water is Permitted
– Groundwater is not
Regulated/Permitted
• State Agency Mandates and
Policies
– Mal-Aligned and CounterProductive
– Policies Largely Contaminant
Cleanup-Based
• Fractionated Local Agency
Management
– Over 1,000 Local Agencies - Water
Special
Groundwater
Districts
& Adjudications
• 23 adjudicated
basins
• 4 special
groundwater
districts
PPIC 2011
DWR PAC 2013, unpublished
Banking and Recharge Projects
in California
106 Projects Recorded
Source:
CA Dept of Water Resources
June 2012
13
Drivers for Recycled Water Use
and Recharge
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Increasing demands
Climate change uncertainty
More surface water storage limited
Current major water infrastructure designed
middle of the last century based on hydrology
which was ‘wet’
• Groundwater contamination growing
• Groundwater reservoirs can work to help meet
the future needs
• Basins need to be refilled for a non-rainy day fund
for future supply resiliency and reliability
Recycled Water Policy
• 2009 Recycled Water Policy adopted by the State
Water Resources Control Board
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Increase use of recycled water
Increase stormwater recharge
Streamline project permitting
Put recycled water to beneficial use
• Recycled Water Policy: develop Salt and Nutrien
Management Plan (SNMP) for all groundwater
basins or subbasins in California
– Understand effects of salt and nutrient loading
– Manage loading to protect groundwater quality
SNMP Required Elements
1. Groundwater monitoring plan
2. Goals and objectives for water
recycling and stormwater
recharge
3. Salt and nutrient source
characterization, assimilative
capacity, loading estimates and
fate & transport
4. Measures to manage loading
5. Anti-degradation analysis
Recycled Water Recharge
Permitting
• Permits for use of recycled water are issued by the State and
Regional Water Boards
• California Department of Public Health (CDPH) establishes criteria
for water recycling criteria & regulations, and makes
recommendations to Water Boards per recycled water project
• Water is continuously monitored before and after treatment
• Recharged water is also monitored in wells between point of
injection and water supply
• Monitoring parameters include emerging constituents of concern
• Water supply wells have to be located minimum distance of
– Six month travel time for water infiltrated in spreading basin
– One year travel time for water injected into the aquifer
– Travel time determined by tracer tests and modeling
Brief History of Groundwater Recharge
with Recycled Water in California
• 1933 - Orange County Water District – recharge Santa
Ana River water
• 1960’s -Water Replenishment District of Southern
California and Los Angeles County Sanitation
• 1976 – OCWD - treating recycled water Water Factory 21
• 1991 – OCWD permitted to inject 100% recycled water
• 2005 – WRD Advanced Water Treatment Facility
• 2006 – City of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
• 2008 – OCWD begins operation of Groundwater
Replenishment System -70MGD/265,000cubic meters-day –
117B gallons produced
Central and West Coast Basins of
Southern Los Angeles County
43 cities
Population is about 4 million
(over 10% of California’s population)
600,000 acre feet total water used per year
250,000 acre feet is from groundwater (~ 40%)
Over 400 Wells Today
MAR Facilities
Spreading Grounds
West
Coast
Barrier
Dominguez Gap
Barrier
Alamitos
Barrier
Spreading
Grounds Built 1937
Rio Hondo
San
Gabriel
Facilities owned and operated by LA
County Flood Control District
Size Both Basins: 1,000 Ac/4Km
Intake Capacity: 2,850 cfs/80.7m3/s
Storage Capacity: 5,200 af/6.4 Mm3
Infiltration Rate: up to 1,200 cfs/34m3s
(2,400 afd)
Spreading Water Sources
 Rainfall per year
(54,000 af/66.6 Mm3)
 Recycled Wastewater per year
(50,000 af/62 Mm3)
 Imported River Water
(21,000 af/26 Mm3)
Barrier Wells Built 1950’s
Facilities owned and
operated by LA County
Flood Control District
Barrier Water Sources
• Potable Water per year
(10,500 af/12 Mm3)
• Advanced Treated Recycled
Municipal Wastewater/year
(17,500 af/21 Mm3)
Reverse Osmosis
 Goal is to be independent from imported water to replenish all of
the groundwater supplies. Increase recycled and stormwater
capture to replace imported.
 WIN is a collection of 6 solo or partnered projects that will provide a
sustainable groundwater supply.
 The WIN Program will decrease demand on water from
environmentally sensitive Bay Delta as well as the Colorado River.
 Up to 34,000 af/42 Mm3 of imported water will be replaced by WIN.
Estimated cost $200 million. Date of completion 2020.
Orange County Water District
 Established in 1933 to:
– Protect Santa Ana River
flow
– Conserve water
– Manage groundwater basin
– Control groundwater pumping
– Replenish basin
– Protect water quality
– Seawater intrusion
– Basin recovery projects
OCWD recharge
facilities along
Santa Ana River.
Warner Basin in
center/background.
River flows can be diverted with an inflatable
rubber dam
Anaheim Lake can recharge 100+ cubic feet per
second when clean
Summary & Conclusions
• California has a long, successful history of MAR, and
recycled water has been used for several decades
• Due to continued losses of endangered species in
the Delta system, less water is available, and
recycled water is being used more
• State policy and regulations
– Increase use of recycled water
– Maintain salt and nutrient balance in basins
• Regional Interdependence Will Work
– less reliant on imported water through recycled water,
stormwater capture and increasing conservation, public
outreach and education
End
References
• Groundwater Availability of the Central Valley
Aquifer – USGS Professional Paper 1766
• Managing California’s Water: From Conflict to
Reconciliation – Public Policy Insitute
Websites
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http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/cwpu2013
http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/Home.aspx
http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Water_Bond_%28
2014%29
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov
http://www.ocwd.com
http://www.wrd.org
http://www.grac.org
http://www.ppic.org
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Water_Bond_%28
2014%29
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/central-valley/central-valleyhydrologic-model.html
Recycled Water
Managed Aquifer Recharge
in California
Segunda Jornada Technicas sobre la
Recarga Artificial de Acuiferos
y Reuso De Agua
Torre de Ingeneria, UNAM, Mexico D.F.
28 y 29 de agosto de 2013
Tim Parker, Parker Groundwater
Director, Groundwater Resources Association of California
DWR Bulletin 118-80
January 1980