Focusing on demonstrating cost effective agricultural BMPs (On-Farm Flood Flow Capture) to retain and infiltrate storm waters, Kings Basin, CA

Collaborating Organizations:

Bachand & Associates, UC. Davis Land Air Water Resources, Sustainable Conservation, Terranova Ranch, Inc, USDA

Funding Organization:

USDA Conservation Innovation Grant Program with matching funds from project participants

Project Description:

Water is becoming increasingly scarce in California and is not meeting current needs, requiring actions to more efficiently manage California’s water supply. Among these actions are conjunctive use and groundwater recharge.  In developing a strategy to increase groundwater banking, solutions have typically focused on public agencies utilizing public resources.  Yet these engineered solutions are expensive and available public lands are relatively sparse.

Within this complex regulatory and hydrologic environment, groundwater recharge opportunities still remain.  Promoting stormwater and flood flow capture and recharge on private agricultural lands is an untapped opportunity that could increase groundwater supplies through direct and in lieu groundwater recharge.  Additionally, this approach could significantly reduce downstream flood and nonpoint water quality impacts and flood risks.  Institutional and technical challenges exist for widespread implementation across agricultural watersheds.  However, the first task in such an effort is to demonstrate and quantify groundwater recharge and savings that can be achieved through these types of programs. 

This project designs, implements and quantifies on-farm flood flow capture on 1000 acre field complex in the Kings Basin. Infrastructure upgrades are made to increase the capacity to move storm flood flows over the field complex.  Hydrologic, water quality and soils data are collected through a combination of instrumentation and discrete sampling.  Results will include quantifying recharge rates, assessing water quality impacts, identifying structural and cultural management practices and quantifying the economic costs and benefits.  From this project, we expect to have demonstrated the effectiveness of agricultural BMPs as an alternative to more traditional engineered approaches for promoting groundwater recharge.  Standard practices will be developed. 

Publications