Utilizing Paleo-Conditioned Streamflow for Managed Aquifer Recharge Studies
Abstract
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR), in partnership with the Merced Irrigation District (MID), is conducting a preliminary study to ascertain the potential of managed aquifer recharge through flood flows (Flood-MAR) on the Merced River Basin within the San Joaquin Valley. This reconnaissance study is a proof of concept evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of Flood-MAR and testing theories in overcoming barriers and challenges to project planning and implementation.
To model flows from Merced River headwaters to groundwater in agricultural fields, nine different modeling tools and extensive data sets are being used to simulate flows. Here we review the use of Paleo-data in the study to represent current climate conditions and hydrologic flow magnitudes. This study uses the Paleo-dendrochronology reconstructed streamflow record of the San Joaquin 4-river flow (900-2013) (Meko et al. 2014) coupled with historical daily temperature and precipitation data in between 1950-2013 (Livneh et al. 2013). Together, this reconstructed streamflow record of the San Joaquin 4-river flow provides information about long-term inter-annual variability by providing an 1,100-year record of the wet and dry cycles that the basin has endured. This reconstructed streamflow is then used in the water modeling tools to refine the generated flow magnitudes to be more reflective of flood conditions along the Merced River and the resulting potential for recharge capability.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.H11L1670V
- Keywords:
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- 1807 Climate impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1829 Groundwater hydrology;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1830 Groundwater/surface water interaction;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY