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Summary of Gra's California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater Symposium GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA VOLUME 24, NO. 1 SPRING 2015 Summary of GRA’s California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater Symposium By Ted Johnson, Rob Gailey, Brent Miyazaki, Ghina Yamout, Lynn Edlund, Jean Kulla, and Tim Parker roduction of oil, natural gas and successfully produce both hydrocarbons groundwater from California’s and groundwater, while simultaneously Preservoirs and aquifers spans over minimizing the risk of negative impacts a century. In recent years, significant ad- to both resources. vances in geo-steering technologies have Below is a summary of the informa- allowed precision horizontal drilling tion provided at the Symposium and and enhanced formation stimulation to field trip. occur, creating a boom (and glut) in the hydrocarbon production industry. To- Setting the Stage: Questions day, oil extraction in the United States is at a 25-year high and rising, and natural and Issues Related to gas production is at an all-time high. Exploration, Production and The U.S. is currently the largest single- Protection of Hydrocarbon country producer of oil and natural gas and Groundwater Resources in the world. in California With this increased activity comes Moderated by Ted Johnson, Chief Hy- questions from public and private groups drogeologist at the Water Replenish- regarding potential impacts to the envi- ment District of Southern California, ronment resulting from increased oil and in Long Beach, CA to bring together and facilitated by Rob Gailey, R.M. gas activities. In 2013, California passed groundwater and petroleum specialists Gailey Consulting Hydrogeologist Senate Bill SB-4 (Pavley), which outlined to openly discuss the current state of new regulations on well and reservoir Dr. Donald Paul, Executive Director knowledge, separate fact from fiction, stimulation practices, including acidiz- at the University of Southern California and provide the latest information on ing and hydraulic fracturing. The bill Energy Institute, presented Develop- current petroleum industry knowledge requires, among other things, that the ing Technologies for Solutions. He first and practices related to California State Water Resources Control Board summarized pertinent aspects of activi- groundwater. An optional field trip was develop model criteria for groundwater ties and operating environments of the held on February 20th to the offshore monitoring by July 1, 2015, to ensure petroleum and groundwater industries. THUMS Oil Islands, a land subsidence protection of groundwater from well Dr. Paul then outlined opportunities and area, and to the top of Signal Hill to stimulation activities. challenges to be addressed by technol- see firsthand the current oil operations, ogy development in the future, including GRA and the Los Angeles Basins monitoring and protection measures be- managing water derived from petroleum Geological Society (LABGS) held the ing employed. Attendees heard 22 invited production, developing substitutes for California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater experts in their respective fields commu- freshwater use, monitoring groundwater Symposium on February 18–19, 2015, nicate the latest information on how to Continued on page 5… HYDROVISIONS – spring 2015 | PAGE 1 The Groundwater Resources Association of California is dedicated to resource management that protects and improves groundwater supply and quality through education and technical leadership. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS President, Ted Johnson Water Replenishment District of Southern Califnoria 562-275-4240 Vice President, Chris Petersen GEI Consultants, Inc. 916-631-4597 Treasurer, R.T. Van Valer Roscoe Moss Company 323-263-4111 Secretary, Steven Phillips US Geological Survey Inside this Issue 916-278-3002 To contact any GRA Executive Officer by email, Features go to www.grac.org/officers.asp Summary of GRA’s California Oil, Gas, and 1 DIRECTORS Groundwater Symposium David Abbott Consulting Geologist One Alternative Exposure Pathway of VOC Vapors 20 Murray Einarson from Contaminated Subsurface Environments into Haley & Aldrich 510-879-4544 Indoor Air – Legacy Sewer-Plumbing Systems Thomas Harter University of California, Davis An Introduction to Hydraulic Fracturing of 25 530-752-1130 Petroleum Reservoirs in California Brad Herrema Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck GRA Requests Nominations for the 2015 “Lifetime 28 805-882-1493 Achievement” and “Kevin J. Neese” Awards Adam Hutchinson Orange County Water District 2015 David K. Todd Distinguished Lecturer Series 29 714-378-3214 John McHugh Santa Clara Valley Water District Columns & Corners 408-265-2607 Abigail McNally President’s Message 3 Confluence Environmental Field Services 510-837-8740 Upcoming Events 12 Lisa O’Boyle Geosyntec Consultants Technical Corner 14 510-708-2708 Tim Parker California Legislative Corner 16 Parker Groundwater James Strandberg Federal Legislative/Regulatory Corner 18 West Yost Associates 925-949-5800 Chemist’s Corner 19 Emily Vavricka EEC Environmental Organizational Corner 31 714-667-2300 Branch Highlights 34 Brett Wyckoff California Department of Water Resources 916-651-9283 To contact any GRA Director by email, go to HYDROVISIONS is the official publication of EDITOR www.grac.org/directors.asp the Groundwater Resources Association of Steven P. Phillips California (GRA). GRA’s mailing address is [email protected] 1215 K Street, Suite 940, Sacramento, CA ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR 95814. Any questions or comments concerning EDITORIAL BOARD Sarah Kline this publication should be directed to the Roy Herndon | Tim Parker | Sarah Kline 916-446-3626 | [email protected] newsletter editor at [email protected] or faxed to Tom Mohr | David Von Aspern | Vicki Kretsinger (916) 231-2141. HYDROVISIONS – spring 2015 | PAGE 2 President’s Message The Drought Goes On By Ted Johnson ey, where did all the rain go? average precipitation to replenish our What happened to the snow? water supplies. I hope that by writing HI mean really? Are we going to this article in January that I am jinxing have a fourth year of drought? Really? the dry weather pattern and that by the time you read this in March there will Those are the thoughts going through have been exceptional February storms my head as I sit in the Long Beach Air- that delivered copious amounts of wa- port, writing this article in a location ter to the state’s snowpack, rivers, and where cold beverages are graciously aquifers. If not, I am afraid 2015 will served (hey, it’s the only place with an be another drought year and will pose a available electrical outlet), and on the real challenge for the water suppliers to TV is a news report stating that despite meet the needs of water users. Conser- the terrific December rains, January will vation and cutbacks, and in some cases end up as one of the driest on record, if panic, will surely follow. not THE driest. What’s going on here? With all the recent attention focused Is it a continuation of that “Ridiculously How this year turns out climatically on groundwater management, GRA has Resilient Ridge,” a term coined by pales in importance to managing Cali- not lost sight of other equally important Stanford climate scientist Daniel Swain fornia’s groundwater basins sustain- groundwater issues, such as contami- who tells of the high-pressure ridge that ably and “living within our means” in nant hydrogeology. As water resources is parked offshore Washington State order to survive future droughts. GRA become more scarce, impaired water and western Canada that won’t break is proud to be taking the lead in pro- bodies are being targeted for treatment down, blocking the winter jet stream viding information related to the Sus- and reuse—for direct consumption, or and its storms from moving down into tainable Groundwater Management for pump, treat, and re-injection pro- California (see my fall 2014 report for Act that was passed in 2014. So far in grams. Site investigations and cleanup more information on the Ridge)? Or is 2015, we have presented two free web have been important for decades, but it a less ominous ridge that only blocks casts (“GRACasts”) on the topic and perhaps never as important as they are weak storms, but will allow the stronger had over 1,000 telephone lines (likely today. California will need to conserve, ones to pass? Time will tell, but for now over 3,000 people) listening in. GRA protect, replenish, and remediate its all we know is that January was dry. also will be presenting several one-day groundwater as part of a sustainable events on the topic in various CA lo- A quick look at the National Oce- water portfolio, which is why GRA will cations later this year, and at least 10 anic and Atmospheric Administration’s be hosting future GRACasts and events more GRACasts. Clearly, this is an im- (NOAA) California Climate Station on these groundwater contamination portant issue with associated timelines Precipitation Summary tells me that as topics, including the latest remediation in place and requirements that must of today, January 30, 2015, the total technologies, development of investiga- be met, and involves science (accurate precipitation in CA is about average for tive tools and techniques, and emerging information), consensus, political will, this time of year, with some areas a bit contaminants of concern. legal certainty, education, boundary up, and others a bit down. So the De- issues, agency creation, and funding Other aspects of groundwater hydrol- cember rains were offset by the January needs to form these Groundwater Sus- ogy will also be covered by GRA this nada, and we are now at about average. tainability Agencies. We hope you will year. Groundwater monitoring related to But an average year just won’t cut it for call into and attend future events to petroleum operations under SB4 and Un- sustaining the state’s water supply. The learn more about this important topic derground Injection Control has been the drought won’t be over and normal pre- and find out how you can be involved focus of GRACasts and a major two-day cipitation will not make up for the past with helping California reach its goal event in Long Beach in February, and will three years of deficit that caused our res- of having every medium- and high- be revisited in future events.
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