Kern County and SGMA Presentation to: California Partnership for - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Kern County and SGMA

Presentation to: California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley

 There are 850,000 irrigated acres on the valley floor,

• ne-third of which are permanent crops (trees and

vines).  Kern County is known for being ranked #1 Agricultural producing county in the US for the last three years. In 2017, the gross value of Agricultural commodities produced was estimated at $7.25 billion.

Kern County Agriculture

 About one-third

• f Kern’s area is
• n the valley floor,

which is intensively cultivated.

Kern River 710,630 20%

• Misc. Local

Water Supplies 205,930 6% CVP 433,800 12% SWP 890,990 26%

Groundwater 1,231,910 36%

Kern River Other Local Water Available CVP SWP Groundwater

10-Year Supply Average (2002-2011) in Acre-feet

KERN COUNTY SOURCES OF WATER

4 4 8 Delano-Earlimart ID Kern-Tulare WD Olcese WD Tejon-Castac WD Devils Den WD

Isabella Reservoir

Lebec CWD

5 5 4 3 43

Sources of Supply

KCWA SWP MEMBER UNITS CVP FRIANT-KERN DISTRICTS CVP CVC DISTRICTS KERN RIVER DISTRICTS

Rosedale-Rio Bravo WSD KCWA ID4 Tehachapi-Cummings CWD Wheeler Ridge- Maricopa WSD West Kern WD Semitropic WSD Belridge WSD Bakersfield Southern San Joaquin MUD Shafter- Wasco ID North Kern WSD Cawelo WD Kern Delta WD Henry Miller WD Lost Hills WD Berrenda Mesa WD

Arvin- Edison WSD Cross Valley Canal

KERN COUNTY WATER DISTRICTS

Source: KCWA

CAUSE EFFECT

State Water Project – Imported Water Supply Trend

California's Water Supply Situation

90% Reliability 58% Reliability

Import Reliability Vs Groundwater Levels (SWSD)

91% Reliability SWP

58% Reliability

78% Reliability SWP

47% Reliability

Two Sides of the Water Equation Supply : Demand

• Surface Supply Challenges/Restrictions

– All Kern Surface Water Sources have been impacted

• Kern River – Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project
• SWP - Delta Issues and declining reliability
• CVP – San Joaquin River Restoration

– Declining yield from surface supplies results in greater dependence upon groundwater to sustain agricultural economy

• Kern Demand

– Ag: Changes in Demand Patterns (Permanent Crops) – Urban: Increasing Population

Points to Remember

• Kern County subscribed to the SWP and the CVP to reduce our collective

reliance upon the groundwater basin and mitigate over-draft – And it Worked

• Kern has invested significantly to develop water banking to address supply

volatility and to increase access to water in wet years. The capacity of GW banking for all Kern Programs is:

• Recharge: Approx. 1.7 MAF/yr
• Recovery: Approx. 1 MAF/yr
• Due to the loss of our surface water supplies (Kern River, CVP, SWP) Kern

has increased reliance on groundwater pumping to maintain agricultural production

• For Kern County, every 10% reduction in SWP Table A allocation results in

the equivalent of 25,000 Acres being driven to reliance upon groundwater

With the County Withdrawal Approx. 240,000 Acres within the Basin not covered by a GSA

BULLETIN 118 Published in January 1980

• “The Kern County Water Agency, which covers

the Kern County Basin, presently receives about half of its maximum annual entitlements from the State Water Project. If no new lands were to go into production, and the full entitlement of the State Water Project were delivered today, there be no overdraft in Kern County as a whole.”

Kern County’s Situation (SGMA)

• The Kern Basin has been designated as

“Critically Overdrafted”

• At this time, Kern estimates the annual Average

Overdraft, under Baseline conditions (1994 to 2015), as being up to 350,000 AF/y

• Plans at this point identify more than 150

projects and management actions which will reduce the deficit by 2040.

– Combination of Supply side and Demand Side projects

• The overdraft amount of the basin is the amount
• f loss of delivery of the State Water Project.

Change in Groundwater Storage Time Series Baseline Conditions with and without SGMA Projects

(TODD Groundwater - Model)

SGMA Related Projects

• Supply Side:

– Expansion of Recharge Capabilities

• Conventional Recharge
• Subsurface Recharge
• In-lieu Recharge

– Enhanced Conveyance – Access to Water Supply when available

• SWP
• Friant
• Local

– New Water Acquisition – Brackish Water Desal – Produced Water Programs – Water Markets

SGMA Related Projects (Cont.)

• Demand Side

– Land Fallowing

• Permanent
• Rotational

– Financial Incentives – Enhanced Irrigation efficiency – Cropping Patterns – Water Markets

Ground Water Legislation One link in a vicious cycle

• Subscribed to the SWP and CVP to address

groundwater overdraft

• Over time we have lost access to surface water

supplies (SWP and CVP)

• Increased reliance upon ground water to

maintain production

• Now faced with ground water legislation which

mandates all groundwater basins are to achieve sustainability in 20 years:

• Increase Surface Water Supplies, and
• Decrease Demand for Water

“California is presently faced with problems

• f a highly critical nature
• the need for further control,

protection, conservation, and distribution of her most vital resource – water. While these problems are not new… Their critical nature stems not only from the unprecedented recent growth of population, industry, and agriculture in a semi-arid state but also from the consequences of a long period during which the construction of water conservation works has not kept pace with the increased need for additional water.” “A Critical need for supplemental water supply now exists in many areas, including: Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Benito Counties; the east, west, and south portions of the San Joaquin Valley; Antelope Valley; Santa Maria Valley; and Ventura County. The ground water basins in these areas are being pumped to the point of dangerous overdraft which threatens their welfare.”

“The State Legislature in 1947 authorized Comprehensive state-wide investigations and studies, which have culminated, after 10 years of intensive effort, in “The California Water Plan,” a master plan to guide and coordinate the planning and construction by all agencies of works required for the control, protection, conservation, and distribution

• f California’s water resources for the

benefit of all areas of the State and for all beneficial uses.” “Finally, and this cannot be emphasized too strongly, the solution of the water problems

• f California lies in the construction of

physical works – not alone in laws and reservations of water, however necessary these may be as steps in the process.”

KERN AG ECONOMY

Investment by the State of California (Conveyance and Storage) to meet its contractual commitments to the State Water Project contractors is a better business / financial decision than to suffer the reduction in the central valley economies.

Economic Output

SWP reductions of 400,000 Acre-feet (annual average) will result in $4.2 Billion in ANNUAL Economic Impacts in Kern County.

• $4.2 BILLION per YEAR

SGMA IS A SURFACE WATER ISSUE IN KERN