The Sacramento region banked 11.5 billion gallons of groundwater last year. Here's how

The Sacramento area saw a big increase in groundwater storage last year.According to the Sacramento Regional Water Authority, wetter than normal conditions in 2024 allowed 11.5 billion gallons of water to recharge the local underground aquifer. That is enough water to serve 105,700 households for a year.Here’s why that matters and how water managers plan to keep adding to that storage in future years.What is groundwater?Groundwater is water that fills the gaps in soil and rock beneath Earth’s surface. Scientists estimate that aquifers beneath California are capable of storing more than 1 billion acre feet of water when full. However, decades of over-pumping has left these groundwater basins severely depleted.State lawmakers passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 to stop over pumping and develop specific plans to gradually replenish each basin.Improved groundwater storage can help make California’s water supply more robust by providing a safety net during extended droughts when surface reservoirs are running low.RELATED: Here’s how scientists measure groundwater supplyHow was water added to Sacramento’s groundwater basin?Water managers use several different methods to recharge groundwater supply. One option is to simply allow the groundwater to refill naturally. This is officially known as “in-lieu” recharge.The Sacramento Regional Water Authority says that is what happened in 2024. The past few years saw near to above average rain and snow to Northern California. That has kept surface water supplies in good shape. During these times, drinking water is taken from surface water reservoirs rather than groundwater. Simply not pumping groundwater in the Sacramento area last year allowed storage to trickle up on its own.Water can also be directly injected back into the ground using a series of pumps. RELATED: How farmers can help rebuild California’s groundwater supplyPlans for the futureThe Sacramento Regional Water Authority is working on expanding infrastructure and permitting to more than double future groundwater storage potential in the years ahead.The agency says that during wet years, these projects could help store 90,000 acre feet of groundwater each year. That is enough for 270,000 households to rely on in dry years.As rising temperatures alter global weather patterns, California’s climate is becoming more erratic and harder for water managers to predict. Improving groundwater supply can help secure a safety net for the state’s water infrastructure. RELATED: Climate change is threatening the health of the American River basinSee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel