{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Groundwater survey could lead to new water storage approach","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"November 9, 2021 — This Thursday, residents around the Ukiah groundwater basin may see a helicopter flying low, hauling a large hoop. It’s part of a state-sponsored program designed to map the geological features of groundwater basins. \r\nKatherine Dlubac is an engineering geologist and the project manager for the Department of Water Resources’ stateside Aerial Electromagnetic (AEM) surveys. She laid out some of the ways that information from the surveys can be used, with the larger goal of implementing SGMA, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, which requires local jurisdictions to come up with plans to manage the resource.\r\n“It tells us about the aquifer structures,” she said; “where we have thick layers in the subsurface of sands and gravels that allow for water to flow, but also for water to be stored. It also tells us where we have layers of clays and silts, so fine grained materials that inhibit water movement. And so while the AEM data still needs to be combined with other types of data...what it can do is it can provide you a better picture of what’s happening in the aquifer...so that you can make those management decisions of whether you want to try recharging water in the area from the surface, or if you want to try injecting water into the aquifer to store it there as another type of reservoir.”\r\nSupervisor Glenn McGourty is part of the local Groundwater Sustainability Agency tasked with gathering as much information as possible to craft the plan. The Ukiah groundwater basin relies mostly on the Russian River, but is also fed by about 160 smaller tributaries.\r\n“Any data we get is going to be useful,” he said; “because you can’t usually see groundwater. You have to have some way of measuring it. Often it’s delineated by wells, so you don’t know for sure what you’re looking at. And there are a couple of mysteries, because we don’t really have uniform geology here in the valley. So the two mysteries are, where is the groundwater? And the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}