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Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Basin Groundwater Management Plan Northeastern San Joaquin County Section 1 Groundwater Banking Authority 35 Introduction Northeastern San Joaquin County Groundwater Banking Authority – Organized in 2001, the Authority has provided a consensus-based forum to local, State, and federal water interests to work cooperatively with one voice to study, investigate, plan, and develop locally supported groundwater banking and conjunctive use projects in Northeastern San Joaquin County. The System Plan, completed in 2002, outlined specific groundwater recharge options into a conjunctive water management system with the capability of recharging up to 300,000 af/yr. Projects in the System Plan included the Freeport Interconnect Project, the Farmington Groundwater Recharge and Seasonal Habitat Project, the City of Stockton Delta Diversion Project and direct groundwater recharge through well injection and seasonal field flooding. Potentially new water supplies may come from surplus flows on the American River, Mokelumne River, Calaveras River, Littlejohns Creek, Stanislaus River, and the Delta. Also in 2002, the Authority continued the work of the ESJPWA and completed the Beckman Test Final Report. The Report concluded water injected at the site remained in the general vicinity and that the test area exhibited a high degree of injected water recoverability. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term storage and the overall recoverability of injected water from the underlying aquifer. For over 30 years, the EBMUD and Sacramento County Water interests have fought over the future of the American River. In 2000, the parties agreed to a joint project whereby Sacramento interests and EBMUD would receive American River water on the Sacramento River near the town of Freeport. The project, coined the Freeport Regional Water Project, is expected to deliver water to the Mokelumne Aqueducts in Northeast San Joaquin County by 2008. The EBMUD is only allowed to receive American River water in the driest 35 percent of all years. In the remaining years, San Joaquin County could divert a significant amount of water through the Freeport Project. The Authority is currently in discussions with EBMUD on the development of the San Joaquin County Freeport Interconnect, a proposed interconnecting pipeline project, which would take advantage of this opportunity. Thus far, the Authority has commissioned a water availability analysis to determine the feasibility of amending a County water right application on the American River to coincide with the Freeport Project. County Groundwater Export Ordinance – In 2000, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Groundwater Export Ordinance to prevent the deliberate export of groundwater for use outside of the County and condition the extraction of banked groundwater by out-of-County partners without a permit. The Export Ordinance requires stringent monitoring and extraction protocols deemed necessary to protect adjacent landowners and underlying basin from adverse impacts. Ordinance Authority does not extend into the incorporated city limits of the County’s municipalities. The Board of Supervisors has in the past indicated that a more workable form of the Groundwater Export Ordinance is possible should stakeholders propose changes in the context of a workable project. San Joaquin County Water Management Plan – Adopted in 2002, the San Joaquin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District facilitated the development of the San Joaquin County Water Management Plan. Over the course of almost two-years, stakeholders representing over 30 water interests, have met to synthesize a plan that addresses overdraft conditions in the Basin, prevent further degradation of groundwater quality due to saline water intrusion, increases water supply reliability, meets the projected year 2030 County water demand, identifies viable water supply and recharge options, identifies the institutional structure to implement the options. Since the Water Management Plan’s adoption, the County has