Ground zero: Rain brings little relief to California’s depleted groundwater

Photo: The Savory Basin outside of Fresno was built two years ago to refill the aquifer with captured stormwater. The Fresno district spent millions to buy farmland and create basins for percolating water underground to help meet the requirements of state groundwater management regulations. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Communities, largely home to low-income Latino residents, still have dry wells. Restoring groundwater takes decades, with costly, long-term replenishment projects — and ultimately, much less pumping.

The powerful storms that clobbered California for weeks in December and January dropped trillions of gallons of water, flooding many communities and farms. But throughout the state, the rains have done little to nourish the underground supplies that are critical sources of California’s drinking water.

Thousands of people in the San Joaquin Valley have seen their wells go dry after years of prolonged drought and overpumping of aquifers. And a two-week deluge — or even a wet winter — will not bring them relief.

Even in January, as California’s rivers flooded thousands of acres, state officials received reports of more than 30 well outages, adding to more than 5,000 dry residential wells reported statewide in the past decade. “Just one wet year is […]

Full article: Ground zero: Rain brings little relief to California’s depleted groundwater