08-04-2026, 06:13 AM
From openAI:
California’s groundwater-replenishment actions, August 2021–August 2026
A threshold point: California does not itself operate one unified underground reservoir. Most actual recharge is performed by local groundwater sustainability agencies, irrigation districts, cities, counties, farmers, and water districts. The state’s role has been to finance projects, authorize diversions, waive or streamline regulations, provide equipment, map aquifers, approve recycled-water recharge, and enforce groundwater-sustainability plans.
A literally exhaustive project list would run into the thousands: DWR has compiled nearly 3,000 groundwater-related projects, while local agencies have identified more than 1,500 projects and management actions under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. What follows is a substantially complete inventory of the state-level steps taken during the five-year period.
1. California dramatically increased funding for groundwater projects
2021–2022 SGMA funding
The 2021 Budget Act provided $180 million in General Fund money for SGMA implementation projects and contemplated another $120 million over the following two fiscal years. DWR then opened a grant program offering more than $350 million for planning and implementation work. In 2022, it awarded approximately $150.5 million through 20 grants in critically overdrafted basins. Not all of this money funded physical recharge; eligible work also included monitoring wells, water-use efficiency, planning and alternative-water-supply studies.
Within the broader program, DWR reported that its 2021 and 2022 awards included $68 million for 42 groundwater-recharge projects, representing nearly 117,000 acre-feet of potential recharge capacity. “Potential capacity” means what the projects could accept under suitable hydrologic conditions—not necessarily how much water entered the ground each year.
2023 SGMA funding round
In September 2023, DWR awarded another $187 million to 32 groundwater subbasins, supporting 103 projects involving recharge, aquifer-storage-and-recovery wells, recycled water, water-use efficiency, monitoring and water-quality work. Examples included:
Because the package included non-recharge work, the entire $187 million should not be counted as recharge construction spending.
State Water Board financing for recycled water, stormwater and recharge
During fiscal year 2022–23, the State Water Board directed more than $200 million to water recycling, stormwater capture and groundwater-recharge projects. The Board estimated that nearly 161,000 acre-feet per year of the resulting new supply would come through projects that recharge groundwater. It also provided $59.1 million for 11 stormwater projects expected to capture about 4,200 acre-feet annually, with groundwater recharge among their benefits.
The state also continued to finance major recycled-water projects that either replenish aquifers directly or replace groundwater pumping. In December 2021, for example, the San Diego Regional Water Board authorized Pure Water Oceanside to inject up to three million gallons per day of advanced-treated recycled water into the San Luis Rey groundwater system before later extraction and final drinking-water treatment.
2. It made groundwater recharge an explicit statewide water-supply objective
California’s August 2022 Water Supply Strategy established a goal of expanding average annual managed groundwater recharge by at least 500,000 acre-feet. The strategy called for:
This was important because it changed recharge from a mainly local SGMA implementation tool into a central element of statewide climate and water-supply policy.
3. It prioritized and temporarily waived regulatory requirements / Executive Order N-7-22
In March 2022, Executive Order N-7-22 directed state agencies to collaborate with tribal, federal and local entities to promote recharge and groundwater storage. It ordered the State and regional water boards to prioritize:
The order also temporarily suspended portions of CEQA for qualifying Flood-MAR and state-funded recharge projects on open and working lands where the necessary state concurrence was obtained. Fish, wildlife and water-right protections were still to be considered.
Fast-track regulatory-assistance pilot
DWR and the State Water Board began a pilot in August 2022 to help local agencies navigate the water-right process. Its first project allowed the Merced Irrigation District and the Merced Irrigation-Urban GSA to seek diversion of up to 10,000 acre-feet from Mariposa Creek during high-flow periods. The pilot was intended to develop a repeatable model for multi-landowner and GSA recharge applications.
First five-year temporary permit
In January 2023, the State Water Board issued California’s first five-year temporary groundwater-storage permit, authorizing the Omochumne-Hartnell Water District to divert 2,444 acre-feet from the Cosumnes River. The longer permit allowed the district to use several wet seasons without applying again each year. The Board simultaneously issued the Merced project its 180-day authorization for up to 10,000 acre-feet.
4. California used the 2023 floods for emergency aquifer recharge
The wet winter of 2022–23 produced the state’s most aggressive recharge intervention during the period. / Executive Order N-4-23
On March 10, 2023, the governor temporarily suspended specified permitting and use requirements so that flood-stage water could be diverted for groundwater recharge without first obtaining the usual state water-right permit. The order imposed conditions concerning flood status, timing, water quality, fish and wildlife, existing water rights and reporting.
Executive Orders N-6-23 and N-7-23
N-6-23 adapted the emergency authority to Tulare Lake Basin flooding. N-7-23 subsequently expanded and extended qualifying diversions in the Tulare Lake and San Joaquin River systems through August 31, 2023, while retaining public-notice, flood-risk and environmental-protection conditions.
Approval of federal floodwater diversions
The State Water Board also approved a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation petition allowing more than 600,000 acre-feet of San Joaquin River floodwater to be diverted for wildlife refuges, underground storage and recharge. By early March 2023, the Board said it had authorized nearly 790,000 acre-feet of diversions for recharge and related purposes since the preceding December. That was authorization—not necessarily the final measured quantity infiltrated.
Temporary equipment and land preparation
DWR obtained emergency funding and supplied or financed:
The initial 2023 effort focused particularly on the Tulare Lake region, where moving floodwater onto suitable land could both reduce flood pressure and replenish shallow aquifers.
5. The Legislature converted emergency authority into temporary statutory authority
In July 2023, Senate Bill 122 added Water Code section 1242.1. Through January 1, 2029, the law provides a pathway to divert floodwater for aquifer recharge without acquiring a water right, when:
The statute does not create permanent ownership of the diverted water or a new water right. It is a limited flood-management authority with recharge as a dual benefit.
6. The state created a multi-year flood-diversion assistance program
Building on the 2023 emergency work, DWR launched the Flood Diversion and Recharge Enhancement Initiative, or FDRE, in December 2023. Contracts executed in June 2024 supported recharge operations through at least June 2026.
The program paid for or assisted with:
The original FDRE allocation has since been exhausted, although Proposition 4 contemplates renewed funding for similar technical assistance.
California’s groundwater-replenishment actions, August 2021–August 2026
A threshold point: California does not itself operate one unified underground reservoir. Most actual recharge is performed by local groundwater sustainability agencies, irrigation districts, cities, counties, farmers, and water districts. The state’s role has been to finance projects, authorize diversions, waive or streamline regulations, provide equipment, map aquifers, approve recycled-water recharge, and enforce groundwater-sustainability plans.
A literally exhaustive project list would run into the thousands: DWR has compiled nearly 3,000 groundwater-related projects, while local agencies have identified more than 1,500 projects and management actions under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA. What follows is a substantially complete inventory of the state-level steps taken during the five-year period.
1. California dramatically increased funding for groundwater projects
2021–2022 SGMA funding
The 2021 Budget Act provided $180 million in General Fund money for SGMA implementation projects and contemplated another $120 million over the following two fiscal years. DWR then opened a grant program offering more than $350 million for planning and implementation work. In 2022, it awarded approximately $150.5 million through 20 grants in critically overdrafted basins. Not all of this money funded physical recharge; eligible work also included monitoring wells, water-use efficiency, planning and alternative-water-supply studies.
Within the broader program, DWR reported that its 2021 and 2022 awards included $68 million for 42 groundwater-recharge projects, representing nearly 117,000 acre-feet of potential recharge capacity. “Potential capacity” means what the projects could accept under suitable hydrologic conditions—not necessarily how much water entered the ground each year.
2023 SGMA funding round
In September 2023, DWR awarded another $187 million to 32 groundwater subbasins, supporting 103 projects involving recharge, aquifer-storage-and-recovery wells, recycled water, water-use efficiency, monitoring and water-quality work. Examples included:
- Expanding an Oakdale Irrigation District recharge facility by a stated 600%.
- Five aquifer-storage-and-recovery wells and a conveyance pipeline in San Benito County.
- Fallowing more than 1,300 acres in Merced County for recharge, habitat and flood reduction.
- Recharge planning and recycled-water studies in the Santa Ynez basin.
Because the package included non-recharge work, the entire $187 million should not be counted as recharge construction spending.
State Water Board financing for recycled water, stormwater and recharge
During fiscal year 2022–23, the State Water Board directed more than $200 million to water recycling, stormwater capture and groundwater-recharge projects. The Board estimated that nearly 161,000 acre-feet per year of the resulting new supply would come through projects that recharge groundwater. It also provided $59.1 million for 11 stormwater projects expected to capture about 4,200 acre-feet annually, with groundwater recharge among their benefits.
The state also continued to finance major recycled-water projects that either replenish aquifers directly or replace groundwater pumping. In December 2021, for example, the San Diego Regional Water Board authorized Pure Water Oceanside to inject up to three million gallons per day of advanced-treated recycled water into the San Luis Rey groundwater system before later extraction and final drinking-water treatment.
2. It made groundwater recharge an explicit statewide water-supply objective
California’s August 2022 Water Supply Strategy established a goal of expanding average annual managed groundwater recharge by at least 500,000 acre-feet. The strategy called for:
- More state financial support.
- Faster water-right permitting.
- Technical assistance for temporary high-flow permits.
- Additional watershed studies to determine when and where water is available.
- Better integration of flood management, reservoir operations and aquifer recharge.
This was important because it changed recharge from a mainly local SGMA implementation tool into a central element of statewide climate and water-supply policy.
3. It prioritized and temporarily waived regulatory requirements / Executive Order N-7-22
In March 2022, Executive Order N-7-22 directed state agencies to collaborate with tribal, federal and local entities to promote recharge and groundwater storage. It ordered the State and regional water boards to prioritize:
- Water-right permits.
- Water-quality certifications.
- Waste-discharge requirements.
- Conditional waivers needed for recharge.
The order also temporarily suspended portions of CEQA for qualifying Flood-MAR and state-funded recharge projects on open and working lands where the necessary state concurrence was obtained. Fish, wildlife and water-right protections were still to be considered.
Fast-track regulatory-assistance pilot
DWR and the State Water Board began a pilot in August 2022 to help local agencies navigate the water-right process. Its first project allowed the Merced Irrigation District and the Merced Irrigation-Urban GSA to seek diversion of up to 10,000 acre-feet from Mariposa Creek during high-flow periods. The pilot was intended to develop a repeatable model for multi-landowner and GSA recharge applications.
First five-year temporary permit
In January 2023, the State Water Board issued California’s first five-year temporary groundwater-storage permit, authorizing the Omochumne-Hartnell Water District to divert 2,444 acre-feet from the Cosumnes River. The longer permit allowed the district to use several wet seasons without applying again each year. The Board simultaneously issued the Merced project its 180-day authorization for up to 10,000 acre-feet.
4. California used the 2023 floods for emergency aquifer recharge
The wet winter of 2022–23 produced the state’s most aggressive recharge intervention during the period. / Executive Order N-4-23
On March 10, 2023, the governor temporarily suspended specified permitting and use requirements so that flood-stage water could be diverted for groundwater recharge without first obtaining the usual state water-right permit. The order imposed conditions concerning flood status, timing, water quality, fish and wildlife, existing water rights and reporting.
Executive Orders N-6-23 and N-7-23
N-6-23 adapted the emergency authority to Tulare Lake Basin flooding. N-7-23 subsequently expanded and extended qualifying diversions in the Tulare Lake and San Joaquin River systems through August 31, 2023, while retaining public-notice, flood-risk and environmental-protection conditions.
Approval of federal floodwater diversions
The State Water Board also approved a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation petition allowing more than 600,000 acre-feet of San Joaquin River floodwater to be diverted for wildlife refuges, underground storage and recharge. By early March 2023, the Board said it had authorized nearly 790,000 acre-feet of diversions for recharge and related purposes since the preceding December. That was authorization—not necessarily the final measured quantity infiltrated.
Temporary equipment and land preparation
DWR obtained emergency funding and supplied or financed:
- Temporary pumps and siphons.
- Equipment to move floodwater from rivers and canals.
- Fish-protection screens.
- Temporary conveyance improvements.
- Clearing of orchards and other agricultural land—called “rip and chip.”
- Development of temporary and permanent recharge basins.
The initial 2023 effort focused particularly on the Tulare Lake region, where moving floodwater onto suitable land could both reduce flood pressure and replenish shallow aquifers.
5. The Legislature converted emergency authority into temporary statutory authority
In July 2023, Senate Bill 122 added Water Code section 1242.1. Through January 1, 2029, the law provides a pathway to divert floodwater for aquifer recharge without acquiring a water right, when:
- A local or regional agency determines and publicly announces that downstream flows pose an imminent flooding risk.
- Required notices and reports are filed.
- Diversions comply with protections for infrastructure, water quality, ecosystems and existing water-right holders.
The statute does not create permanent ownership of the diverted water or a new water right. It is a limited flood-management authority with recharge as a dual benefit.
6. The state created a multi-year flood-diversion assistance program
Building on the 2023 emergency work, DWR launched the Flood Diversion and Recharge Enhancement Initiative, or FDRE, in December 2023. Contracts executed in June 2024 supported recharge operations through at least June 2026.
The program paid for or assisted with:
- Pump rentals and purchases.
- Protective intake screens.
- Land clearing.
- Temporary recharge-basin construction.
- Temporary canal and conveyance improvements.
- Regulatory and project-development assistance.
The original FDRE allocation has since been exhausted, although Proposition 4 contemplates renewed funding for similar technical assistance.
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