Turlock groundwater agency secures $9 million grant. What will it use the money for?

A water agency that serves part of Stanislaus and Merced counties is using a grant of nearly $9 million to work on sustainable groundwater management.

Its efforts include evaluating alternative cropping practices and opportunities for floodplain reconnection.

“We knew that we were going to have to cut back on pumping,” said Mike Tietze, general manager of the East Turlock Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency. “And that necessarily meant land conversion. … Our view really was that the concepts that we came up with were concepts that are sound and that we would implement regardless of if we get the grant, and we got the grant” of $8.89 million.

As part of the state Department of Conservation’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, four organizations received a combined $35 million. The grant funding aims to support regional transitions to sustainable groundwater management.

With its award, the East Turlock agency plans to reduce groundwater demand and increase recharge to provide environmental and economic benefits. The member agencies of the East Turlock agency are Stanislaus County, the Ballico-Cortez Water District, the Eastside Water District, Merced County and the Merced Irrigation District.

Wet winters like 2023’s are crucial to recharging aquifers

The Turlock agency’s proposal focuses on transitioning agricultural land for new uses.

David Shabazian, director of the California Department of Conservation, noted the importance of floodplain reactivation, one of the strategies the agency hopes to implement. In wet years like 2023, floodplain reactivation can help recharge aquifers while also reducing the demand for water, according to Shabazian.

The agency also will identify possible sites for orchard swale rewilding, a form of ecological restoration. This will target low-lying marshy areas in orchards and transition these sites toward a more sustainable landscape. Combined with other mechanisms, like check dams, this strategy can help retain water and decrease the rate of runoff, according to Tietze.

“More of that water will be held for a longer period of time and released more slowly, so that downstream we should see a flood severity improvement,” Tietze said.

The agency also will evaluate potential solar power projects on agricultural land.

Ward Burroughs, Eastside Water District Chairman and an almond farmer, said that for farmers, land is not just about the money it produces. This plan will help farmers utilize resources as they “figure out a way to use that land to get better results.”

A presentation accessible online and given during the Turlock agency’s meeting Thursday, June 22, highlighted various benefits the land repurposing strategy considers. Some of these benefits involve recharge, reduction in demand, improved water quality and climate change resilience.

“This substantial funding represents a significant step towards our goal of securing reliable and sustainable water supplies for the communities in Senate District 4,” Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil said in a press release. “The East Turlock Groundwater Sustainability Agency has consistently demonstrated its dedication to addressing water challenges, and I am confident that this investment will propel their efforts to new heights.”

To bring this plan to life, the East Turlock agency will work with Sustainable Conservation, a nonprofit focused on solving environmental challenges in California, to incorporate multi-benefit strategies. Tietze noted that Sustainable Conservation is helping the agency to refine a groundwater resource assessment tool.

The Merced Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency also received the MLRP grant. According to Tietze, leaders from Merced and the East Turlock agency are considering what working together may look like.

Groundwater is nearly half of Turlock Subbasin’s water supply

Shabazian grew up on a farm on the east side of Turlock and emphasized the value the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program can provide communities in agricultural areas.

“That’s really where the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program is important because it is about supporting communities through different ways of using the landscape when you are unable to irrigate those lands the way you have in the past,” Shabazian said.

The Turlock Subbasin is listed as a “high” priority basin, according to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Basin Prioritization Dashboard. According to the database, 49% of the subbasin’s total water supply was groundwater.

Alvardo-Gil also emphasized the “importance of local and regional strategies.” Out of the four recipients of the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program’s recent round of funding, three are in the Central Valley, which has experienced intense falling groundwater levels.

Shanna Atherton-Bauer, land conservation programs manager for the Department of Conservation, described the East Turlock agency’s plan as “representative” of other applications the state received.

“This application really brought together multiple partners in the region to think about this work,” Atherton-Bauer said. “Not just water agencies, but organizations that are interested in habitat and conservation.”

Over 200,000 people live in the Turlock subbasin, according to the SGMA dashboard.