Surface Reservoir Reoperation for Managed Aquifer Recharge: Folsom Reservoir System
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146, Issue 12
Abstract
As is much of the world, California increasingly is challenged by water scarcity. A recent multiyear drought depleted surface reservoir and groundwater storage in many places of the state. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014, promises sustainable groundwater management in California and suggests managed aquifer recharge (MAR) as one of the key practices to eliminate groundwater overdraft by groundwater sustainability agencies. Questions remain, however, about the amount of water available for MAR. Conjunctive management provides the opportunity to modify reservoir operations and enhance recharge long before any drought occurs. However, the amount by which reoperation of surface reservoirs can increase the available water for MAR has not been thoroughly investigated. Folsom reservoir is operated to meet a variety of objectives, including flood control, water supply, hydropower, and environmental flow. The inclusion of water discharge for groundwater recharge adds another objective for the operation of the reservoir and complicates the decision-making. Various management strategies were developed and applied to evaluate performance of the system during a historical period, and a new objective was added to maximize the available water for recharge from Folsom reservoir. Although the reoperation strategy offers additional storage in the system and increases the expected value of recharge from 280 to 430 million cubic meter (mcm) per year, trade-offs between different objectives showed that new operating rules perform quite satisfactorily, with nonsignificant deficits and violations of old objectives.
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Data Availability Statement
The simulation-optimization code generated for this study along with all the input data and results and their metadata files are available online (https://github.com/erfangoharian). More data, parts of the models used, and codes generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge support from the University of California (UC) Office of the President’s Multi-Campus Research Programs and Initiatives (MR-15-328473) through UC Water, the University of California Water Security and Sustainability Research Initiative.
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 12 • December 2020
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© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 24, 2019
Accepted: Jul 2, 2020
Published online: Oct 13, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Mar 13, 2021
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