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Westlands Agricultural Aquifer Storage Recovery Program

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Westlands Agricultural Aquifer Storage Recovery Program INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION AGRICULTURAL AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROGRAM August 2019 LEAD AGENCY: Westlands Water District 3130 W. Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93703-6056 (559) 241-6226 PREPARED BY: Scheidegger & Associates P.O. Box 331 Danville, CA 94526 (925) 210-2271 WITH ASSISTANCE FROM: Brown and Caldwell: Hydrology and Water Quality TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. Introduction and Project Description .................................................................... 1 1. Project Title .................................................................................................................... 1 2. Lead Agency Name and Address .................................................................................... 1 3. Contact Person and Phone Number ............................................................................... 1 4. Program Location ........................................................................................................... 1 5. Program Sponsor's Name and Address .......................................................................... 1 6. General Plan Designation ............................................................................................... 1 7. Zoning ............................................................................................................................. 1 8. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Westlands Water District ............................................................................................... 3 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act .................................................................. 4 Regulatory Overview ...................................................................................................... 5 Underground Injection Control Program ............................................................... 5 General Waste Discharge Requirements for ASR Projects ..................................... 5 California Water Code ........................................................................................... 6 Antidegradation Policy .......................................................................................... 6 Agricultural Aquifer Storage and Recovery Program ...................................................... 7 ASR Pilot Studies ............................................................................................................ 7 Report of Waste Discharge and Technical Report .......................................................... 8 9. Program Description ..................................................................................................... 10 Program Objectives ...................................................................................................... 10 Water Sources .............................................................................................................. 11 Conveyance ....................................................................................................... 11 Available Flows .................................................................................................. 11 Source Water Quality .................................................................................................... 12 Potential Ag-ASR Wells ................................................................................................ 12 Schedule for Recharge Wells .............................................................................. 12 i Buffer Zone Exclusion ........................................................................................ 14 Well Conversion to Ag-ASR Operation ............................................................... 14 Monitoring and Operations ......................................................................................... 15 Ag-ASR Program Management .................................................................................... 15 10. Surrounding Land Use .................................................................................................. 16 11. Other Public Agencies Whose Approval is Required ................................................... 16 12. Purpose of this IS .......................................................................................................... 16 13. Consultation with Native American Tribes ................................................................... 18 14. Environmental Factors Potentially Affected .................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 2. Determination ..................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3. Discussion of Environmental Checklist ................................................................ 20 CHAPTER 4. Checklist and Information Sources ...................................................................... 64 Appendix A. Initial ASR Design, Operations, and Monitoring Standards Plan Appendix B. Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Historical CVP Allocation ........................................................................................... 4 Table 2. Major Elements of the ASR Pilot Monitoring Program ............................................. 8 Table 3. Major Minerals Summary for CIP and GAMA Wells ................................................ 42 Table 4. Minor Minerals Summary for GAMA Program Wells .............................................. 43 Table 5. Water Quality Objectives and Current Groundwater Quality ................................. 45 Table 6. Other Trace and Biological Groundwater Quality Objectives .................................. 46 Table 7. Anticipated Concentrations of Groundwater and Injection Water Constituents ..... 48 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. District Map ............................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Installed Equipment and Related Facilities for Pilot Ag-ASR Well .............................. 9 ii Figure 3. Location of WWD Production Wells Used for Aquifer Storage and Recovery, Impacts Modeling .................................................................................................... 13 Figure 4. Land Use Within the WWD ..................................................................................... 17 Figure 5. Active Cleanup Sites Within the WWD .................................................................. 38 Figure 6. Conceptual Illustration of the WWD Hydrogeologic System..................................... 40 Figure 7. Generalized Hydrogeological Cross Section for WWD ............................................. 41 iii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Project Title: Agricultural Aquifer Storage and Recovery (Ag-ASR) Program 2. Lead Agency Name and Address: Westlands Water District 3130 W. Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93703-6056 3. Contact Person and Phone Number: Katarina Campbell Westlands Water District (559) 241-6226 (559) 291-6277 (fax) Paul Scheidegger Scheidegger & Associates (925) 210-2271 (925) 937-9026 (fax) 4. Program Location: The location of the Westlands Water District (Westlands or District) is shown on Figure 1. The Ag-ASR Program would be located within the District's boundary. The District is composed of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley within Fresno County and the northern portion of Kings County. 5. Program Sponsor's Name and Address: Westlands Water District 3130 W. Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93703-6056 6. General Plan Designation: Agriculture 7. Zoning: Agriculture 8. Introduction: The District is proposing to implement a large-scale Ag-ASR Program through use of recharge wells to enhance subsurface recharge and subsequent recovery in the Westside Subbasin (Groundwater Subbasin Number 5-22.09). Introductory discussion is provided in this section while Section 9 provides a description of the Program. Westlands Agricultural Aquifer Storage Recovery Program 1 $YHQXH )LUHEDXJK +HUQGRQ$YH H Y $ 6KDZ$YH W V H 6KLHOGV$YH : 0HQGRWD )UHVQR 6 .HUPDQ D Q / X LV ' 7UDQTXLOOLW\ U D LQ 6DQ -RDTXLQ &DUXWKHUV &DQWXD&UHHN 6 D Q / 5LYHUGDOH X LV )LYH3RLQWV & D Q D O *UDQJHYLOOH%OYG 5 /HPRRUH1DYDO H /HPRRUH H Y $LU6WDWLRQ H V %O Y G +XURQ .DQVDV$Y &RDOLQJD County Fresno County Kings 6WUDWIRUG G 5 II 0DS([WHQW WR X O& D Q YH $ .HWWOHPDQ&LW\ $YHQDO /HJHQG :HVWODQGV:DWHU'LVWULFW )LJXUH 0DMRU5RDGV &LW\&RPPXQLW\%RXQGDU\ O 'LVWULFW0DS :DWHUZD\ :LOGOLIH$UHD 0LOHV WESTLANDS WATER DISTRICT 0HQGRWD3RRO 3130 N. FRESNO ST. Inlet Canal &RXQW\%RXQGDU\ FRESNO, CALIFORNIA 93703 559.224.1523 FAX 559.241.6277 5?':*6?$UFKLYHG?:?'LVWULFW0DSB,QOHWP[G 'DWHSource: Westlands Water District, July 2019 Figure 1. District Map 2 Westlands Water District The District was formed in 1952 with a mission to provide timely, reliable, and affordable water services to landowners and water users in western Fresno and Kings Counties. These water services include the sustainable management and delivery of water supply, as well as the provision of ongoing education, advanced technology and innovative methods for environmental conservation. Westlands is the largest agricultural water district in the United States.1 Under federal contract, Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 875 acres in size. Westlands also provides a limited quantity of untreated,
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