Impacts of groundwater management on energy resources and greenhouse gas emissions in California

• Published in: Water research (Oxford) 2018-09, Vol.141, p.196-207
• Main Authors: Hendrickson, Thomas P., Bruguera, Maya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: California; Climate Change; Conservation of Natural Resources; Drought; Droughts; Energy efficiency; GHG emissions; Greenhouse Gases; Groundwater; Recycling; Sustainable groundwater management act (SGMA); Water Resources; Water Supply; Water-energy nexus
• ISSN: 0043-1354; 1879-2448
• DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.05.012

California faces significant energy and water infrastructure planning challenges in response to a changing climate. Immediately following the most severe recorded drought, the state experienced one of its wettest water years in recorded history. Despite the recent severe wet weather, much of the state's critical groundwater systems have not recovered from the drought. The recent Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) aims to eliminate future depletion risks, but may force California basins to seek alternative water sources by limiting groundwater withdrawals during droughts. These alternative water resources, such as recycled water or desalination, can have significantly higher energy demands in treatment and supply than local groundwater or surface water resources. This research developed potential scenarios of water supply sources for five overdrafted groundwater basins, and modeled the impacts of these scenarios on energy demands and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for water supply systems. Our results reveal that energy demands and GHG emissions in different water supply scenarios can vary substantially between basins, but could increase statewide energy consumption as much as 2% and GHG emissions by 0.5. These results highlight the need to integrate these energy and GHG impacts into water resource management. Better understanding these considerations enables water supply planners to avoid potential unintended consequences (i.e., increased energy demands and GHG emissions) of enhancing drought resilience. [Display omitted] •California groundwater management can have unintended consequences.•Managing water resources under drought can raise energy demands and GHG emissions.•Maximizing conservation often the best option for reducing energy use and GHG emissions.•Energy and GHG implications vary by water sources used in place of local water sources.