COMMITTEE AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Water Supply and Demand Management Committee
Government Code § 84308 Applies: Yes ? No ?
(If “YES” Complete Attachment A – Gov. Code § 84308)
SUBJECT: title
Receive Update on Groundwater Banking Opportunities.
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RECOMMENDATION: Recommendation
Receive update on groundwater banking opportunities.
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SUMMARY:
Groundwater banking plays a vital role in managing Valley Water’s excess imported water supplies and providing dry year reliability. Imported Water Unit staff have been working to diversify Valley Water’s banking programs to reduce risks inherent to any singular program and provide additional put and take capacities. Valley Water continues to engage with potential partners across California on groundwater banking opportunities. This update provides the latest progress with Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency and Willow Springs Water Bank.
Antelope Valley-East Kern (AVEK)
AVEK and Imported Water Unit staff have developed terms for a water banking and exchange program. The current terms allocate 20,000 acre-feet (AF) of storage capacity in AVEK’s banking facilities to Valley Water over a 10-year period. Valley Water will be able to deliver up to 5,000 AF annually of its State Water Project (SWP) supplies to AVEK for recharge, and 80% of the delivered water will be available for return back to Valley Water during the agreement term. Valley Water’s maximum annual return volume will depend on the final SWP Table A allocation in that year and range from 2,000 AF in a 5% allocation year to 5,000 AF in a 15% or greater allocation year. AVEK will return water to Valley Water by making its SWP supplies available at the Delta or at San Luis Reservoir.
AVEK will assure that their SWP supplies will be available for delivery directly to Valley Water either from the Delta or from San Luis Reservoir. This minimizes concerns regarding potentially limited exchange capacity to withdraw banked water in dry years. In additio...
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