Madera County’s groundwater situation is dire. New efforts are underway to address it
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) made the County of Madera responsible for groundwater management for the more than 200,000 acres that are not part of an irrigation or water district (the “white areas”) in Madera County.
Like many regions in the Central Valley, Madera County is heavily groundwater dependent. The average annual shortage in the Madera subbasin alone is approximately 165,000 acre-feet per year, a number calculated over a 50-year period to account for both wet and dry periods.
With that shortage in mind, the Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) has been implementing a range of aggressive management actions to reduce water use, implement projects to increase supply, and take additional measures to track groundwater use and levels and mitigate impacts to domestic wells, as set forth in the Joint Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP).
Here is a rundown of accomplishments:
▪ Groundwater allocation: In June, the GSA adopted an allocation for irrigated acres. For the first year, the allocation is 28.3 inches of evapotranspiration of applied water (ETAW) within the Madera County GSA in the Madera Subbasin, a significant reduction for most growers. For example, almonds in Madera County have historically used an average of 34 inches of ETAW, so a starting point of 28.3 inches is a 17% decrease. The Madera County GSA is one of the first in the Central Valley to adopt an allocation.
▪ Measurement: Since January, satellite imagery has monitored ETAW within the GSA. Growers can access their own data to track their water use against their allocation.
▪ Groundwater recharge: Recharge projects will divert available floodwater to increase the amount of water added to the water table. The GSA is developing an emergency recharge program to ensure that floodwater available before permanent recharge projects have been completed is utilized. Madera County GSA and other partners were awarded two state Proposition 68 grants of $4.2 million each to implement recharge projects over the next two years, and is including robust recharge projects in an upcoming rate study.
▪ Land conservation: The Madera County GSA was awarded an additional state grant to develop an incentive structure to retire land. Land re-purposing will be included in an upcoming rate study.
▪ Water market: With a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the GSA has been able to explore with other GSAs and community groups the potential for a groundwater market within Madera County.
▪ Monitoring network: During the GSP development, the GSAs developed a network of monitoring wells, chosen based on various criteria to provide broad spatial coverage and represent conditions in the subbasin. These wells allow the Madera County GSA to monitor groundwater conditions and adjust implementation of projects and management actions accordingly.
▪ Domestic well mitigation program: This program includes analysis of potential impacts to domestic wells, including a domestic well inventory and additional monitoring wells, and is intended to support those who experience domestic well impacts due to groundwater overdraft during the GSP implementation period. Funding for domestic well mitigation will be included in an upcoming rate study.
Current drought conditions, with limited surface-water supplies and declining groundwater levels underscore the importance of water use reduction measures like those being implemented by the Madera County GSA. Regular review and plan updates are an important part of GSP implementation, allowing the GSA to respond to changing conditions and ensure that the subbasin is on target to reach sustainability.
Interested people are encouraged to stay informed by signing up for the Madera County GSA email list and checking the GSA’s website: www.maderacountywater.com.