Water storage from El Nino
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With El Nino promising a wet winter, water districts across the state are working feverishly to be prepared to capture as much rain as possible to recharge depleted aquifers.
Gary Serrato, general manager of the Fresno Irrigation District, looks to the skies on a rare wet morning while he talks about the aquifer recharge project at the Boswell Groundwater Banking Facility, where water is “banked” in open, flat fields.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
With El Nino promising a wet winter, water districts across the state are working feverishly to be prepared to capture as much rain as possible to recharge depleted aquifers.
Rain drips from a railing at the Boswell Groundwater Banking Facility in Fresno, where the Fresno Irrigation District captures water to recharge the aquifer and send to farms as needed.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Giant valves are open and ready to channel water at the Boswell bank. Boswell is one of four groundwater banking projects the Fresno district has constructed in the last decade.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
With El Nino storms predicted for this winter, the stage is set at the Boswell bank to capture rainfall and corral floodwaters from Kings River.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Fresno Irrigation District General Manager Gary Serrato says he’s proud of the banking projects. “It’s worked out great for us. We intend to build more.”
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A tractor prepares the Boswell bank by clearing weeds and debris, allowing for better percolation of captured surface water.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)