Justin Baser – Undergraduate – Environmental Science
California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and its Application in Mendocino County

​California has struggled with declining groundwater and water quality issues, which is partially a result of a lack of regulations and is also a concern because of a series of droughts. In recent years, California has taken a course of action to solve this issue through the enactment of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). SGMA presents an approach to halting overdraft and bringing groundwater basins into balanced levels of pumping and recharge. SGMA requires that local agencies develop sustainability plans for high- and medium priority groundwater basins that include 20-year plans to ensure buffers against drought and climate change. The policy solution SGMA enforces, is a mandate on local governments and water districts to form Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA). GSA’s are responsible for management of land acquisitions, recharge basins, infrastructure repair or replacement, and groundwater monitoring equipment. The result of SGMA is when local agencies are out of compliance with these plans the state water resource control board takes the authority to manage the basin to protect the resource. In turn, the state oversees the pumping, recharge, monitoring including metering, and water rate setting that challenges the public's livability, particularly in Mendocino County. This poster focuses on Mendocino County in northern California, which does not have the vast resources and capital in comparison to some counties in Southern California. This project examines groundwater usage in Mendocino County and how SGMA is being applied, especially as it can provide greater security during times of water scarcity. 

Kailey Bass– Undergraduate – Environmental Science
Managed Aquifer Recharge Approaches between Metropolitan and Agricultural Regions in the Southwestern United States

​Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a conventional solution to pumping of groundwater that exceeds the natural recharge rate (NRR) and is common in drier regions due to low NRR. As surface water resources diminish, groundwater storage has also shown gradual depletion due to increased reliance. The result of depletion is the depressurization of an aquifer system, causing subsidence and reduced water storage capacity. Mitigation of this water issue adapts to regional demand and aims to maximize surface and groundwater storage for consumers. By artificially increasing the recharge rate through MAR, aquifer storage and streamflow may be positively impacted. There are evident consequences to diverting surface water to aquifer recharge that are vital to the development of management strategies. This project examines the variability of MAR in the metropolitan region of the Las Vegas Valley and the agricultural region of the Central Valley of California.

Gabriel Bierwas – Undergraduate 
Seawater Intrusion in California’s Coastal Aquifers

​The objective of this poster is to compare the effects of seawater intrusion between the coastal aquifers of Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Los Angeles and San Diego are California’s two largest metropolitan areas with a combined population of roughly 15 million people. Through natural precipitation, California falls short of supplying enough water to meet the demands of these urban areas. In order to supplement this lack of rainfall, one approach to develop water suppliers has been to use groundwater from coastal aquifers underneath the cities. However, both cities have over pumped their aquifers, primarily to increase municipal water supply. Declining groundwater levels associated with overuse of groundwater has caused seawater to infiltrate into the freshwater aquifers, which has resulted in increasingly brackish groundwater. Seawater intrusion in each basin, Na+ and Cl- ion concentrations, and environmental degradation are examined for each area using existing research based on USGS well monitoring sites, the Los Angeles and San Diego water authorities, and remote sensing.

Logan Klonicke - Undergraduate – Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Increasing Importance of Protecting Nevada’s Groundwater and Springs

​Nevada is the most arid state in the United States, so protecting the water it has is important, especially with its growing population and development. Nevada’s springs and groundwater has been impacted by several different forces including: wild horses, excessive groundwater withdrawals, mining companies buying water rights for groundwater, invasive species and livestock grazing. One of goals according to the US Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) is by 2025 50% of Nevada’s 283 high priority springs and all springs in the seven significant spring landscapes are in good or very good condition. In this poster, I examine strategies being taken to protect groundwater-supporting springs in Nevada, such as groundwater recharging, discuss past and present forces on Nevada’s groundwater, and talk about environmental impacts on streams themselves from groundwater withdrawal. In addition, I will be providing examples from different parts of the state through visual images of groundwater protection sites. 

Faith Machuca- Undergraduate – Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Native American Response to Groundwater Contamination from the Anaconda Copper Mine, Nevada

The Anaconda Copper Mine, located in Lyon County, Nevada, has had a significant detrimental impact on groundwater quality in an aquifer shared by Yerington residents and local Native American tribes. Water has been contaminated with uranium, arsenic, and additional heavy metals. Since ceasing mining operations, the oversight of the environmental cleanup has switched between jurisdictions. In 2018, the mine lost Superfund status and EPA oversight, and supervision passed to the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP). Both government agencies worked with Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), a private company responsible for cleaning the pollution because they acquired the mine site. When ARCO updated the model of the impacted groundwater plume from the mine’s contaminants after the state assumed jurisdiction, the affected area was reduced to less than half of what was previously vetted by the EPA. The Yerington Paiute Tribe, a local Native American tribe affected by the mine, was not included in the updated model discussions and have since been essentially neglected in cleanup negotiations. Indigenous communities often have little opportunity to be meaningfully involved in water governance, even if it directly impacts their water quality. Tribes are continuously excluded from water legislation and policymaking, in addition to any regulatory decision-making on water quality. This poster examines both the extent to which the Yerington Paiute Tribe’s groundwater quality has been affected by the Anaconda Copper Mine, and the tribe’s response to affected groundwater quality.