GRACast: Water Budget Framework and Dashboard
Presented by:
Abdul Khan, Ph.D., P.E.
California Department of Water Resources
A water budget is the key to assessing sustainable water conditions in a watershed and groundwater basin because it provides a complete picture of inflows, outflows, and change in storage in a geographic region. Tracking water conditions in a geographic region is essential for developing a comprehensive water management strategy to reduce undesirable results, drought vulnerability, and risks to people, economy, and environment. Developing water budgets for the diverse hydrologic regions of California needs consistency in the definition and computation of water budget components. To address this need, the California Department of Water Resources is developing a water budget framework to support the implementation of California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and to transition the developed water supply and use computations for the California Water Plan (CWP), also known as Water Portfolios, to a watershed-based water budget. The project consists of a phased approach where Phase 1, presented herein, is a pilot project being conducted for the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region in California’s Central Valley to facilitate the development of the water-budget framework. Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region is the largest groundwater extractor in California, with 38% of all groundwater pumped in the state occurring in the region. The project included a rigorous comparison and refinement of CWP and the Integrated Water Flow Model’s (IWFM) water budget data and methodologies. This comparison and refinement facilitated the selection of water budget components, the preparation of a common schematic, and the development of clear terminology. The Water Budget Dashboard presents an accounting of these water budget components for the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region.
For Phase 2, an additional pilot project applies and tests the water budget framework for the Central Coast Hydrologic Region in California with the goal of further refining the framework. Central Coast Hydrologic Region uses the highest proportion of groundwater to meet its total water uses, with 86% of the total water supply in the region coming from groundwater. The lessons learned from the two pilot projects will be used to inform the recommendations to improve the water budget framework, refine water budgets for both pilot projects, and provide guidance for applying the framework for developing water budgets for the remaining eight hydrologic regions of California.
*Early Registration (August 17) is $75 for Members* and $100 for Non-Members*
*Registration after August 17 is $100 for Members* and $125 for Non-Members*
SPEAKER BIO:
Dr. Abdul Khan has over 30 years of experience in water resources planning and management, integrated groundwater-surface water modeling, reservoir operations modeling, hydrologic and hydraulic impact analysis, and developing water management plans. Since 1992, he has been working in California and has conducted numerous modeling and planning studies that involved SWP/CVP operations, flood studies, analysis and modeling of groundwater flow and contaminant transport, reservoir operations, temperature and fisheries, and salinity intrusion. He has been involved in the development, calibration, and application of Integrated Groundwater Surface Water Model (IGSM) in many basins throughout California.
Dr. Khan has a B.Sc. from Bangladesh University of Engineering, an M.S. from Clarkson University, and a Ph.D. from University of Kentucky, all in civil engineering. He is a registered California Professional Engineer.
MODERATOR BIO:
John Lambie PE, PG, CWRE is a principal hydrogeologist with E-PUR, LLC, a water resource consultancy. John conducts water supply planning with an emphasis on groundwater and conjunctive water use options. He regularly applies his expertise in hydrogeologic modeling, wellfield exploration and design, and many other forms of quantitative analysis. John has experience in evaluating managed aquifer recharge options using surface waters to ensure water-supplies against quantity and quality risks.
Date: Aug. 23, 2017, noon - Aug. 23, 2017, 1:30 p.m.