Underground Reservoirs Preferred Water Storage

Taylor Hillman Drought, Water

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will benefit from USDA conservation funding. (Photo courtesy of CDFA.gov)

Courtesy: CDFA

Researchers say that underground reservoirs are the preferable method of water storage for California due to their flexibility.

Underground Reservoirs

Talk continues around the state to push for more water storage. “You know, there is always a divided crowd on whether to build more surface water reservoirs or other solutions out there,” says UC Davis Integrated Hydrological Sciences Assistant Professor Helen Dahlke. “We have over 1400 reservoirs in California and almost every major river has one so there is not that much more capacity that can be added to that.”

Dahlke says underground reservoirs are the preferred storage solution if the industry can get the water too them. “With climate variability basically causing more extreme events…the water demand will be shifting quite a bit so reservoirs are not the most flexible storage solutions to actually accommodate that huge variability and demand in climate extremes, groundwater storage is definitely more flexible in that matter. The challenge is getting the water to it.”