Stormwater has been getting a lot more attention in recent years. With record-breaking winter storms and a renewed focus on treating our groundwater aquifers as ‘underground reservoirs’, now is the perfect time to combine these water forces through Stormwater Recharge.
With SGM Implementation grant funds, the Santa Rosa Plain GSA has just kicked off our pilot project for Stormwater Capture and Recharge Planning.
The project is looking to diversify and advance our groundwater supply by developing two pilot projects that will capture stormwater runoff during rain events and recharge the water into the aquifer. This project will provide multiple benefits including locally increasing groundwater levels within the aquifer, enhance baseflows to interconnected surface water and help support sensitive beneficial users.
This task will include site-specific investigations, modeling, and pilot studies of both on-farm recharge and upland recharge as well as other ways to ‘spread and sink’ stormwater into the ground. Stormwater recharge projects have been identified in the Russian River Regional Storm Water Resource Plan, and include the following project types:
- recharging onsite runoff, such as on-farm recharge of local runoff, and
- recharging unallocated storm flows, which require temporary diversions and conveyance of flows from streams to recharge locations.
In order to increase the amount of water we put into the ground, the GSA is working with a team of scientists and engineers to consider the following factors for recharging stormwater:
- Water available for recharge, including any water rights considerations and permitting needs,
- Areas with permeable near-surface soils and sufficient depth to the aquifer,
- Outreach to interested landowners with locations that could help sustain dry-month baseflows to streams and support groundwater dependent ecosystems
Stormwater recharge is an integrated and voluntary resource management strategy that takes collaboration with landowners, farmers, scientists, and water managers to create a successful project. These pilot projects will show what is possible for local stormwater recharge and hopefully lay the groundwork for future recharge projects.