Sonoma Valley Surface Water/Groundwater-Flow Model Completed
Sonoma County faces potential changes in surface-water availability, including potential impacts on water quality in response to changing land use, increasing population, and climate change.
The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) is responsible for supplying water to about 570,000 people throughout Sonoma and Marin Counties and needs to develop new strategies for efficiently providing Russian River water and groundwater in the individual basins. In addition, SCWA also needs an updated assessment of groundwater availability in the county including the degree to which poor-quality groundwater affects both current and predicted future supplies.
The primary study objective is to develop approaches and tools that will enable more efficient use and protection of water resources in a system of multiple groundwater basins. This study will focus on developing a detailed geohydrologic understanding and conceptual model of the groundwater/surface-water systems in the Sonoma Valley.
Specific tasks will be: 1) interpret available data and characterize the geohydrology of Sonoma Valley — including refining hydrologic budgets and conceptual models of the groundwater-flow system; 2) development and application of a coupled watershed and groundwater-flow model; and 3) describe the results of the study in a USGS report.
Sonoma County faces potential changes in surface-water availability, including potential impacts on water quality in response to changing land use, increasing population, and climate change.
The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) is responsible for supplying water to about 570,000 people throughout Sonoma and Marin Counties and needs to develop new strategies for efficiently providing Russian River water and groundwater in the individual basins. In addition, SCWA also needs an updated assessment of groundwater availability in the county including the degree to which poor-quality groundwater affects both current and predicted future supplies.
The primary study objective is to develop approaches and tools that will enable more efficient use and protection of water resources in a system of multiple groundwater basins. This study will focus on developing a detailed geohydrologic understanding and conceptual model of the groundwater/surface-water systems in the Sonoma Valley.
Specific tasks will be: 1) interpret available data and characterize the geohydrology of Sonoma Valley — including refining hydrologic budgets and conceptual models of the groundwater-flow system; 2) development and application of a coupled watershed and groundwater-flow model; and 3) describe the results of the study in a USGS report.