Sacramento & San Joaquin River Basins
Mission of the basin
Improve regional water supply reliability and protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
About
Steadfast effort in Northern California is yielding an integrated strategy to coordinate environmental outcomes and build a more resilient ecosystem.
The Freshwater Trust’s (TFT) analytics and scenario-planning tools are enabling conservation practitioners, resource agency managers, and producers to evaluate options to meet a variety of surface and groundwater objectives driven by state regulations. Actions to improve land management and water availability include irrigation efficiency upgrades, cover cropping, and aquifer recharge. Chief among these projects is Harvest Water, a $600-million recycled water project to provide agricultural water supply.
Harvest Water is the largest project of its kind in California. The region’s wastewater utility is implementing it in partnership with TFT. We are conducting outreach on agricultural land that will soon receive treated, recycled wastewater to offset groundwater pumping for irrigation and help preserve sensitive habitats for Sandhill cranes and other special- status species.
Elsewhere, we’ve helped implement one of the state’s first agricultural managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects. This project uses corporate funds secured by TFT to deliver excess flood water from the Cosumnes River to adjacent vineyards, thereby recharging groundwater. In the Sacramento River, we have partnered with local landowners to keep more water instream, improving outcomes for native fish and wildlife. Lastly, we continue to support groundwater management efforts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, helping to ensure that these resources are sustainable for future generations.
Using Harvest Water as a starting point, TFT and its partners have developed a portfolio of strategic shovel-ready projects that will help produce benefits related to wildfire, flood, drought, habitat, and greenhouse gases. Our introduction of a “watershed outcomes bank” brings together multiple funding sources and directs the funds in a coordinated and trackable fashion to priority projects. As these initial projects attract further funding, they generate the momentum needed to achieve tangible watershed improvements.
At A Glance
Restoration Actions
Aquifer recharge through in-lieu irrigation water provision and planned field inundations in winter | Groundwater well monitoring | Reduced water diversions to maintain river flow
Species Benefited
Fall-run Chinook Salmon | Sandhill Crane | Swainson’s Hawk | Giant Garter Snake | White-tailed Kite | Tri-colored Black Bird
Areas Worked
Cosumnes River | Northern portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta | Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys
Role of TFT Technology
BasinScout® Analytics and web map evaluate hydrologic and vegetation data for project development.
Partners & Funders
Amazon Web Services | California Department of Water Resources | California Water Action Collaborative | Dixon Resource Conservation District | Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation | Larry Walker and Associates | Luhdorff &
Scalmanini Consulting Engineers | Madera Resource Conservation District | Microsoft | Multiple landowners and reclamation districts | The Nature Conservancy | Northern Delta Groundwater Sustainability Agency | Omochumne-Hartnell Water District | Pacific Institute | Sacramento Area Sewer District | Sacramento County Farm Bureau | Sloughhouse Resource Conservation District | Solano County Water Agency | U.S. Bureau of Land Management | U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | Water Foundation
Uplift: Acre-feet of water secured for instream flow augmentation
1,143
Uplift: Acre-feet of water applied for aquifer recharge
344
Total # of Projects
6
Dollars Invested
$11.2 million
Our Work in the Sacramento
View Impact Explorer
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in lieu recharge?
In lieu recharge is where surface water is used as a substitute for pumping from a groundwater source. The substituted water is a renewable supply, such as excess surface water or treated wastewater. In lieu recharge allows for "conjunctive use," where surface water is used by persons that could otherwise extract groundwater in order to leave groundwater in the basin. This practice can help improve water reliability in California.
Why is TFT engaging disadvantaged communities in groundwater sustainability efforts?
Groundwater is important to everyone, from farmers growing crops to local communities that rely on groundwater as their source of drinking water. Therefore, regional Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) need to consider the needs and concerns of all water users. In eastern Solano County, TFT is working with local partners to reach out to disadvantaged communities (where incomes are less than 80% of the state’s median household income) to actively engage them in the decision-making process about the future of the resource.
What is a monitoring method under Senate Bill 88?
In 2015 California passed Senate Bill 88, which made it mandatory for those diverting more than 10 acre-feet of surface water per year to accurately measure the amount of water used. In most cases, SB 88 requires meters for surface water diversions. However, in the Northern Delta, it is technically and logistically challenging to meter the diversions. Instead, most people use gravity-fed siphons, which are unpowered pipes that bring water from the rivers that are at higher elevations to the farms on the Delta islands. TFT is a partner in a scientific consortium to find more accurate and cost-effective methods of measuring water use.
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