EPA Awards Grant to
Los Angeles County for
Research into Boosting Water Supplies and Improving Water Security
Department of Public Works to use award for
studies aiming to advance groundwater availability and quality.
Media Contact:
Michael Brogan, 415-295-9314, brogan.michael@epa.gov
SAN FRANCISCO (September
26, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has awarded $7,837,196 in funding to four institutions, including the
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, to research the use and risks of
enhanced aquifer recharge (EAR) to improve groundwater availability and
quality.
“Groundwater is an essential and increasingly scarce commodity in arid
regions such as Southern California. Through this award, Los Angeles County
will move forward with timely and innovative studies to help secure precious
groundwater resources and protect water quality,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional
Administrator Martha Guzman. “This research will help conserve
and maximize the availability of groundwater into the future. We are proud to
support efforts that help states, agencies, and communities become more water
resilient."
“Capturing and conserving stormwater is an integral part of Los Angeles
County’s strategy to ensure all residents have access to safe, clean, reliable
water resources,” said
Mark Pestrella, Director of Los Angeles County Public Works and the Chief
Engineer of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District.
“This grant from the EPA will allow LA County Public Works to continue its
exploration of sustainable stormwater capture in the face of climate change—one
of the most critical challenges we face as a region.”
Enhanced Aquifer Recharge (EAR), often interchangeably referred to as
artificial recharge or aquifer storage, has tremendous potential as a process
to augment water supplies, replenish groundwater, and restore streamflow in the
face of increasing populations, urban development, and climate change. EAR can
be accomplished using surface water or treated wastewater. While EAR
implementation and management has been an active topic of research for many
years, significant knowledge gaps remain. This research will help address some
of these gaps related to best practices in design, location, performance,
maintenance, and monitoring of EAR in different land use and hydrogeologic
settings.
“As climate change and increasing demand diminish the availability of
groundwater, identifying innovative solutions for EAR is an important step in
protecting our water resources,” said Chris
Frey, Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development.
“This research will provide the knowledge needed to help improve water supplies
for communities experiencing increased intensity, frequency, and duration of
drought and extreme heat.”
With the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) research funding from the EPA
announced this week, investigators will assist communities throughout the
United States in evaluating whether and how to invest in safe and sustainable
EAR strategies for many goals including enhancing water supplies, protecting
water quality, maintaining aquatic ecosystems, reducing sinking land and avoiding
sea water intrusion. This research will enable state, Tribal, and local water
quality managers to adopt safe EAR practices while understanding the risks,
benefits, and consequences from using different source waters and given
differing subsurface geology and groundwater end use.
The following institutions are receiving awards:
- Los
Angeles County Public Works, Alhambra, Calif., to explore the
long-term, regional potential for groundwater recharge through urban best
management practices and develop a free and open-source user-friendly tool
for evaluation of performance of EAR practices.
- Oklahoma
State University, Stillwater, Okla., to test the
effectiveness and impacts of rural EAR structures and determine if they
can be deployed for rural land management strategies to safely increase
groundwater supplies.
- Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa., to increase EAR adoption by better understanding the
potential mobilization of contaminants and their risks to water quality in
key aquifer systems across the U.S.
- Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, Va., to develop a web-based
decision support tool to guide communities, agencies, and practitioners to
design safe and sustainable implementation of EAR in the U.S. Coastal
Plain and in regions with similar hydrogeology.
Learn more about these
grant awards.
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