Using Recharge Net Metering to Incentivize Sustainable Groundwater Management using Stormwater: Current Progress and Future Prospects
Abstract
A recharge net metering (ReNeM) pilot program was launched in Fall 2016, in the Pajaro Valley Groundwater Basin, central coastal California. The ReNeM program was designed to incentivize the development, creation, and operation of infiltration systems supplied by stormwater runoff as a means to enhance groundwater resources in an overdrafted basin, with a goal of generating ∼1000 ac-ft/yr of net infiltration benefit. To our knowledge, the program is unique in several respects. The core of the ReNeM program is performance-based rebates on groundwater extraction fees. Rebates are calculated for each project as 50% of the unit extraction fee multiplied by the net infiltration benefit for each operating year, a formula favorable to both program participants and the regional water agency. ReNeM shares selected characteristics of groundwater banking and net energy metering, yet is novel in how it combines these elements and distributes benefits to direct participants and other basin residents. ReNeM can also provide the basis for restoring hydrologic system services that have been lost as a consequence of rising groundwater demand, shifting land use, and a changing climate, helping to improve aquatic conditions. The ReNeM program is operated as a collaboration between the University of California, Santa Cruz; the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County; the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency; and regional stakeholders who host infiltration projects. Multiple field projects are currently operating as part of the ReNeM pilot program, with rebates issued on the basis of measured project performance, and additional sites are being evaluated for future development. This presentation will explain the basis for ReNeM, describe progress to date (including measured benefits generated by operating projects) and planned activities, identify challenges, and suggest how aspects of ReNeM might be applied to other regions.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.H11L1665F
- Keywords:
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- 1807 Climate impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1829 Groundwater hydrology;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1830 Groundwater/surface water interaction;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY