CENTRAL SACRAMENTO COUNTY GROUNDWATER FORUM
We believe that the common interests of the members of the
CSCGF hold the promise of developing consensus agreements on groundwater
management opportunities in Central Sacramento County. The work of the
Groundwater Forum will further the coequal objectives of the Water Forum:
Provide a reliable and safe water supply
for the region’s economic health and planned development to the year 2030, and
Preserve the fishery, wildlife,
recreational and aesthetic values of the Lower American River.
Just as the Water Forum Agreement successfully addressed
these coequal objectives, the Central Sacramento County Groundwater Forum
provides an opportunity to achieve similar coequal benefits for the central
area of the County:
Protect the groundwater basin and manage
it for long term water supply benefits for economic health and planned
development, and
Protect and enhance the critical recreational,
wildlife habitat and fishery habitat values supported by the central area’s
urban and natural rivers and streams.
REMEDIATE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
Clean-up of groundwater contamination and securing a
realistic replacement water supply for areas impacted by major pollution plumes
is a top priority.[1] Planning for
necessary clean-up should be an open, public process undertaken by appropriate
public agencies and funded by the responsible parties.
Plans to remediate groundwater contamination and provide
water to the community should avoid negatively impacting other groundwater and
surface water resources, existing users and wildlife and fisheries habitat
values.
Sacramento County should develop a clear policy on the use
of remediated water. Such water should be used appropriately within the basin
in ways that will aid impacted users. Such water should be accounted for within
the parameters of the Water Forum Agreement. The “water budget” for the central
area should be revised to take into account losses due to contaminated water as
well as appropriate opportunities for use of remediated water.
PROMOTE CONSERVATION
All interest groups represented in the Groundwater Forum
have an interest in promoting conservation as an important component in the
preservation of the groundwater resource. It must be a fundamental part of any
plan addressing local and regional water supply[2].
Conservation is more than good stewardship of limited resources in an expanding
community. It will be essential if we are to avoid adverse impacts on our
rivers and streams, on area economies that rely on groundwater mining and on
communities that rely on Sacramento area water exports.
Water conservation methods such as tiered pricing, water
banking, use of “purple pipe water” and other innovative technologies such as
rain harvesting should be encouraged.
PROTECT URBAN AND NATURAL RIVERS AND
STREAMS
The protection and enhancement of the stream systems in the
central area (the Laguna and Morrison Creek system[3],
the Cosumnes River[4] and Deer
Creek[5])
should be a fundamental goal of a central County groundwater management plan.
The long-term objective for our urban stream systems (Laguna and Morrison)
should be to maintain the aquatic habitat and recreational values of these
systems. The long-term objective for the natural streams (Cosumnes River and
Deer Creek) should be to restore the flow patterns needed to support salmon
populations[6]
and the flow conditions and groundwater levels necessary to enhance aquatic and
riparian values[7]. In the
short-term, actions by public agencies should move us incrementally toward
these objectives.
(It is important to note that actions taken to protect
rivers and creeks in the central area of the County should not compromise
ongoing efforts to protect and enhance the Lower American River, just as it is
assumed that these American River-focused activities will not compromise needed
efforts and investments to restore and sustain habitat and recreational values
associated with the central area streams and rivers.)
A conjunctive use plan for the central area should take into
account these long- term objectives for our river and streams and recharge
methods and locations should be designed with these objectives in mind.[8]
The water needs of our rivers and streams should be factored into the water
budget and given equal priority with other uses.
SUPPORT AGRICULTURE
Agricultural activities make a significant contribution to
the County’s economy, provide open space and enhance wildlife habitat. We should
encourage policies and incentives to support agriculture and multiple use
programs that have low impact on water resources.
Long term water planning and conjunctive use should
explicitly take into account the long term water needs necessary to sustain agriculture.
Agriculture should participate in the design and implementation of a
conjunctive use program in order to improve the groundwater resource, maintain
wildlife habitat and protect groundwater recharge areas.
Water efficiency in the agricultural sector should have
equal priority with urban water efficiency and assistance should be provided to
the agricultural sector in addressing contamination issues and concerns.
IMPLEMENT GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT
A groundwater management plan should be basin-wide,
comprehensive, cooperative and equitable. It should:
·
Be based
upon analysis and modeling which uses the best available current geo-technical
and monitoring data
·
Take into
account drought reliability and the effects of a conjunctive use program designed
to meet multiple purposes
·
Make
certain that all water quality, quantity and conservation standards and
regulations are met
·
Conform to
state mandated general plans, the County’s urban service boundary, the Water
Forum agreement and the Zone 40 Water Master Plan
·
Include an
ongoing program to monitor the yield and use of the groundwater resource that
is based on the best available data integrated from all sources (monitoring
wells, data from contamination sites, changes in natural systems and other
empirical data, etc.), with a clearly articulated, mutually agreed upon, and
consistent base line.
·
Ensure that
in-basin transfers are equitable and that groundwater users negatively impacted
by such transfers are made whole.
COORDINATE WATER PLANNING AND LAND USE
DECISIONS
Government should not use its power to favor one group over
another: e.g., potential future users over current users.
Land use decisions should be based on rational, sequenced,
objective criteria and must avoid creating any condition that would promote a
“rush to the pump-house” or jeopardize landowner investments. The land use
procedures adopted by the Water Forum should be followed as part of any land
use planning process. Key objectives include maintenance of the County’s
adopted Urban Services Boundary and consistency with the South Sacramento
Habitat Conservation Plan.
The planning process should address issues such as: is the
water currently available? is it unencumbered by legal problems? is the
necessary infrastructure in place or will it be in place by the time the water
is needed? etc. Planning for and funding of regional water supplies and
distribution facilities should be part of a public planning process and not
driven by special interest needs or contributions.
[1] It is important to note that the recognition of the extent of the south-of-Highway 50 groundwater contamination and concomitant need for replacement water represents a changed circumstance since the adoption of the Water Forum Agreement. Addressing these issues in a manner that is true to the principles of the Water Forum and consistent with the objectives of the CSCGF is a challenge shared by all stakeholders concerned with the future of water and environmental management in the Sacramento region.
[2] For urban areas, the water conservation Best Management Practices that are included in the Water Forum Agreement should be implemented. In agricultural areas, water use efficiency and conservation practices based on those developed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the California Department of Water Resources should be adopted and implemented.
[3] The Laguna and Morrison Creek systems comprise a network of urban and rural streams with important current open space, recreational, and habitat values. They offer significant opportunities for enhancement of recreational and habitat values and provide an important opportunity for enhancing public understanding of water quality, aquatic habitat, and water supply issues, and for engaging the community in ongoing efforts to appropriately manage these water resources.
[4] The Cosumnes River offers a rich tapestry of resource values associated with its status as the only undammed river of the Sierra west slope. These resources have been the focus of two decades of conservation activities spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). TNC and its partners (Sacramento County, California Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Water Resources, US Bureau of Land Management, State Lands Commission, and Ducks Unlimited) have permanently protected over 40,000 acres in the lower Cosumnes River Watershed and are engaged in significant ongoing efforts to maintain and restore the river’s salmon fishery, protect and expand its riparian forests, and protect farmlands that provide critical habitat values and buffer the river corridor from incompatible development. The Cosumnes basin is widely recognized as a globally important habitat area. It provides critical habitat for a range of protected and/or endangered species, including Chinook salmon, splittail, the Swainson’s hawk, greater Sandhill crane, giant garter snake, and others.
[5] Deer Creek, an important tributary to the Cosumnes, rises in western El Dorado County and joins the Cosumnes just upstream of Highway 99.
[6] The salmon populations of the Cosumnes River have suffered in direct proportion to the lowering of groundwater levels. Historically, the Cosumnes channel received water from groundwater and was maintained in a generally wet condition even during Summer and early Fall periods of low- or no-flow. The gradual drying of the channel and underlying strata have increased the rate of loss of river water to groundwater. As a result, the average date of first connected flow in the river (needed to enable salmon migration upstream from the Delta to spawning grounds) has moved back in time by a month or more over the past half century. Experts have identified this alternation to the river’s flow pattern as a critical factor in the decline of the Cosumne’s salmon population from the very large pre-1950 runs to an average of 200-300 fish today.
[7] Apart from the issue of flows in the Cosumnes itself, many of the habitat values of the lower Cosumnes area are directly dependent on groundwater levels and potentially threatened by any further decline in groundwater levels. These include the riparian vegetation and forests of the lower floodplain that support a broad range of protected species, as well as the marshes, wetlands and lagunitas (associated with Badger Creek and other tributaries south of the Cosumnes) that provide critical habitats for giant garter snake, Sandhill cranes, and others.
[8] While a return to year 1900 groundwater elevations is infeasible, surrogate measures in the context of the planning and implementation of a conjunctive use program could likely achieve functionally similar results and should be aggressively pursued. Measures to be considered include: use of the Cosumnes River channel and adjacent uplands and wetlands as active recharge areas, creating a groundwater “mound” that would help address the needs of the natural systems as it moved to eventually recharge the deep aquifer; similar use of the other central area streams; developing a program for “in lieu” recharge by providing agricultural pumpers near the river with equivalently-priced surface water; developing a cooperative program with Eldorado Irrigation District for strategically timed releases from Sly Park Reservoir to benefit the salmon fishery.